


An Unexpected Something

by CanITellUSmThin



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Angst, Denial, Discovery, Drama, F/F, Lesbian, Love, Romance, True Love, mAU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-03-10 06:58:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3281054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanITellUSmThin/pseuds/CanITellUSmThin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna lived in a filthy rich household and could have just about anything she wanted, but a decent boyfriend eluded her. Tired of being set up with losers courtesy of her mother, she takes a risk and ventures to the internet world for her True Love, leading to unexpected results... (mAU/Elsanna/not incest)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's a Date

Anna Arendelle lay on her bed, her lips forming a thin line as she absently petted her Siamese cat, Trixie. The cat purred contentedly and arched her furry body into the touch, loving the attention she was getting. It was a rare moment for the feline because Anna hardly ever paid much attention to the cat, but currently the girl was extremely bored out of her mind so she had nothing better to do.

Blue-green eyes lazily surveyed the large bedroom, skipping past the flat screen HD TV, a stereo and the rack of CDs next to it that were slotted in no particular order, most of which she’d never even bothered listening to. Her wandering eyes stopped momentarily on the white vanity table across the room and the makeup scattered about on top. 

Anna abruptly got up, knocking Trixie to the ground unceremoniously. The animal yowled in protest and hissed before prancing out of the room, her tail flicking wildly in the air. Anna paid the animal no mind as she swung open the door of her large walk-in closet that held every single article of clothing she owned. She sighed pitifully as she took in the shirts, skirts, and dresses hanging on the hangers; the shoes, still in their boxes stacked neatly one on top of another on the floor.

The nineteen-year-old lived in a mansion with her father, mother, and brother. The family was filthy rich, which meant Anna had practically everything she could possibly want. Her parents were quick to get her anything if she asked for it. One time she wanted a llama and they got her one without question, though they got rid of it a few days later because it spat way too much. It was extremely gross. Then she demanded they get her a horse instead, and while she still had the animal today, she no longer had any interest in it. When she asked her parents to extend her room they did, but it looked too small to her still and she wondered if she should have it extended again. She’d have to talk with her parents about that.

Despite everything she had, there was one thing she was without and that was a boyfriend. Anna desperately wanted one, but unfortunately for her she wasn’t having any luck in that department. She dated practically every available guy in her area, excluding the ugly ones, and out of all of those boys, not a single one of them worked out for her. Either they were only interested in her money or they were just trying to get into her pants. It was really depressing. She was the richest and prettiest girl in town and the fact that she was without a boyfriend was despicable and unheard of!

She didn’t know what to do. She feared she was going to die a spinster. All she wanted was a guy who loved her for who she was, not just for her money or for her sexy bod. Anna wanted someone she could have fun with, someone that would make her laugh and feel wonderful without even trying. 

Laughing wasn’t common in the Arendelle household. Adgar, her father, was overly serious. Business was the only thing important to him. Idunn, her mother, was afraid to laugh or crack a smile for fear she would get wrinkles on her perfectly smooth face. She used botox regularly. Hans, her brother, was practically a clone of Adgar, always serious and rarely smiling. He was more boyish looking and could hardly be considered a man at the age of twenty-one. He was pretty much a nerd and was the total opposite of a prince charming. He was tall and skinny, with acne all over his face and hideous sideburns. Her brother was a perfect example of a guy Anna would never go out with.

Idunn was impatient about her daughter getting hitched already and was constantly setting up dates for her without Anna’s consent. A majority of the guys she ended up getting paired with were her mother’s friend’s sons and the dates always ended horribly. It was such a nightmare!

Anna was determined to find the right guy. The question was, where could she look for her Mr. Right? She was contemplating this when Trixie pounced back into the room, dropping a wriggling, furry mass from her mouth. Anna shrieked when she saw a gigantic, fast-moving mouse skitter into her room. The cat swiped halfheartedly at it with her paw but missed, and the mouse disappeared somewhere under the queen-sized bed with a squeak. 

“Trixie!? Why did you bring that thing in here?” Anna screamed in outrage. Trixie’s hobby was bringing live mice into the mansion. She never killed them like most cats would. She’d find them outside, pick them up in her mouth if she was lucky enough to catch one, and then she’d enter through an open window and bring the mouse into Anna’s room. It was basically a routine, but one Anna would never get used to. She was considering getting rid of Trixie because of it but then the house would be too boring without an animal roaming around.

“Get it out, you beast! Out!”

Trixie sat on the floor and started to groom herself with her sandy tongue. Disgusted, because now she’d probably find a smelly hairball on the carpet later on, Anna wrinkled her nose and gingerly tiptoed across the floor to her desk where her laptop lay. Flipping the lid open, she switched it on and twiddled her thumbs together while she waited for it to load. Once the background image popped up she gasped in horror.

“Hans! You jerk!” It was a picture of a gross looking beetle. Anna right clicked and went to properties and got rid of the image quickly, shuddering involuntarily. She hated bugs so much and that hatred formed thanks to something that happened to her when she was six. 

She was outside playing with her Barbie dolls and she accidentally dropped Barbie into a bush. Anna had trouble finding the doll through all the leaves, but she managed to locate her and gave her a huge hug, scolding the doll for hiding from her like that. She felt something crawling on her arm, and when she looked there was an enormous, gray ladybug. She allowed it to crawl on her fingers and was having fun watching it… until the bug started gnawing on her skin. Then Anna let out a shrill scream and frantically tried to shake the bug off with no luck. Her brother Hans was the one who came out and flicked it off her finger. It was probably the only nice thing he’d ever done for her… 

Since then he was always planting bug stuff around her room to scare her. Anna tried locking her door to keep him out but he always managed to pick the lock or steal the keys from the maid, who needed them in order to clean the room when Anna wasn‘t around. It was immature behavior on her brother’s part, and Anna wondered when he was going to grow up and act like a man instead of a child. Probably never. It explained why he couldn’t get a girlfriend.

Sighing heavily, Anna clicked onto the internet and did a bit of surfing. Nothing interested her though, and she was about to shut the computer down and call it a night when she thought of something. Since she was having such a hard time finding someone in person, why not try to find someone online? It was dangerous looking online of all places, but it didn’t hurt to flirt with danger every now and then.

Excited about the idea, Anna signed onto her Instant Messenger name and entered a dating chat room. Wiping her sweaty hands on her legs first, she began to type “single, nineteen-year-old female, looking”. Except instead of writing it out fully she resorted to using mostly single letters and slashes out of laziness. She pressed enter and a low chiming noise sounded through the speakers as her message popped up for everyone in the chat room to see.

TooRich4U: S/19/F/L

Almost instantly a separate window popped up.

ChIcKmAgN3T: Hey there.

Anna’s breath caught in her throat. It actually worked. Someone had seen her message and IMed her! She was so excited she almost forgot to type a response.

TooRich4U: hi!! lol. whats ur name and how old are u? my names anna, btw.

ChIcKmAgN3T: Anna? That’s a pretty name. Well, I’m 20 and my name’s El---

Anna only managed to catch the first two letters of the person’s name before she was face to face with an unflattering view of a cat’s butt. “Trixie!” The cat had jumped up on the desk and was now stepping all over the keyboard, pressing buttons and typing who knew what on the screen while her tail swatted Anna in the face. Furious, Anna shoved the cat off and in the process the ESC button was hit and the IM window was closed out. Cursing explosively, Anna very nearly slammed the lid of her laptop closed but restrained herself from doing so. She’d broken quite a few laptops in the past due to smashing them closed out of frustration or anger for whatever reason, and while laptops were easily replaceable, at this particular moment, when she was close to what could possibly be a promising start to acquiring a potential boyfriend, she needed her laptop in a preferably useable condition. 

She opened a new chat window with ChIcKmAgN3T.

TooRich4U: sorry about that… my stupid cat got in the way and disrupted everything… so uh… i like ur name…? 

Anna drummed her fingers against the keys but didn’t type anything else. She was curious to know what his full name really was but she didn’t feel like pestering him again for it. Whatever it was, she was sure it was probably sexy as hell. The name Elroy particularly stood out in her head and she liked the sound of it so she decided to secretly call him that in her head but stuck with El while talking with him.

TooRich4U: do u mind if i just call u El?

ChIcKmAgN3T: I guess so. You may call me that if you wish, that’s fine. :D

She couldn’t believe her luck. On her first try, not only did she find a guy with a (probably) cute name, but he was just about her age too! It was so perfect. She was overjoyed by this turn of events and bounced in her seat. So far so good, she thought. Anna just hoped he wouldn’t turn out to be some creepy, ugly loser. There was only one way to find out. Her fingers went to work as she typed in questions to get to know this Elroy person better.

They chatted for a long time, talking about little things like the weather. Anna preferred hot weather while Elroy thrived for the cold. Anna pictured them both having so much fun on a beach...and building snowmen on said beach. It was such an absurd image that she laughed out loud, and when she calmed down some she found herself trying to imagine what the guy looked like. She didn’t ask for his picture though because she was afraid if she saw what he really looked like she’d be repulsed and stop speaking to him and she was having way too much fun talking with him.

There was a knock on her door. Anna peered over her shoulder and frowned at Hans. “What do you want?”

He entered the room, chewing on a pretzel. “It’s midnight,” he said with his mouth full. Pretzel crumbs sprayed out of his mouth and Anna showed her annoyance at him dirtying her floor. Hans leaned over to get a look at what she was doing on the computer. “Why are you up so late? Don’t you need to get some beauty sleep?” He squinted at the screen but it didn‘t make a difference. He wasn’t wearing his contacts so everything was blurry to him.

Anna minimized the window and crossed her arms, spinning her chair around to face him. “Do you mind? Jeez. Can’t a girl have some privacy in her own room? You don’t see me barging into your room.” It wasn’t like she had a reason to go in there. It was full of nerd stuff and she wasn’t interested in any of that garbage.

It took her a half an hour to get Hans out of her room. When she sat back down in front of her computer she was worried Elroy might have left, especially after she didn’t reply for so long.

TooRich4U: sorry… brother trouble. hes so annoying…-_-’ are u still there?

She waited an agonizing minute without a response. She was starting to lose hope. And then Elroy replied.

ChIcKmAgN3T: I’m so glad I’m an only child.

For the next few weeks Anna went online almost everyday specifically just to chat with Elroy. She found out he knew a lot about animals and was a huge animal lover. He owned a German shepherd named Sven and she told him about her pest of a cat. When she told him she used to have a llama but got rid of it because it kept spitting on everyone he told her it was always best to get two llamas if you consider getting one at all. Llamas, he said, normally only spit at other llamas, and mostly over food. But a lonely llama is an unhappy llama, and if the only contact it gets is from humans, be prepared to be spat upon.

Elroy had a job and he lived in his own apartment, which was good. It meant he wasn’t dependent on his parents and that made Anna like him even more.

She’d gotten to know Elroy so well after just those few weeks that Anna boldly asked Elroy if he’d want to go out with her one day. 

ChIcKmAgN3T: Oh wow. You’re serious? Are you sure that’s what you want?

TooRich4U: oh yeah. im certain. i feel so comfortable talking with u and id love to meet u in person.

She was ecstatic when he said yes, that he’d be happy to. They’d finally get a chance to meet each other! And the good news was that Elroy didn’t live that far away! What were the chances of that happening? _Let’s just hope I’m not making a mistake and setting up a date with a serial killer or some kind of maniac_ , she thought after she gave him her address. She knew Elroy might not be the same person in real life as he was on the computer. Computers granted people the chance to pretend to be anyone they wanted to be, and no one would know the truth otherwise.

They settled on a date and time, and the first thing Anna did after she logged off was mark the date on her calendar with a bold black marker. “Three days,” she said out loud to herself, counting and then recounting the days till her first date with Elroy. “In three days I’ll finally get to meet the man of my dreams.” 

At least she hoped so.


	2. Getting Ready For Her Man!

“What am I going to wear!?”

Anna wanted to scream. The day of her highly anticipated date had finally arrived and she had absolutely no idea what she was going to wear for the occasion. The days immediately following their agreement of going on a date together, Anna had been too preoccupied with daydreaming about the prospect of the event instead of searching her wardrobe for impressionable clothes to wear for the day in question. Now she was rushing around last minute like a maniac and couldn’t find anything that she deemed decent. She’d literally yanked all of her clothes out of the closet in her desperate search and threw all of them onto the floor.

The maid, Marisol, calmly picked everything up and neatly placed them on her bed. In no time there was a large mound of clothes piled high on top. “Miss, why not just wear this with this?” Marisol suggested, holding up what Anna thought looked like a tacky skirt and blouse. “I think it would look really beau---”

“UGH! Are you joking?” Anna swiped the clothes from her and eyed them with distaste. She couldn’t fathom how such ugly clothes ended up in her possession. She flung them back onto the floor and groaned. “This is a nightmare!” Everything had been going so perfect! She’d thought she had everything set and ready to go. She fixed her face up, did her hair… and then she remembered her fatal error concerning her lack of picking out clothes. During her frantic search, her hair had gotten a bit frazzled and her makeup was smudged up.

Sweat beaded on Marisol’s forehead and she wiped it off with her arm. “No matter what you wear you’ll look fantastic in it,” she tried to convince the girl. She didn’t understand why it was so hard to pick something to wear, especially with all the clothes the girl owned. If she had as much clothes as Anna she wouldn’t have a problem finding something to wear. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes, an action that did not go unnoticed by the spoiled rich girl.

“Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me! I’ll have you fired!” Anna threatened.

The maid bit back a sharp remark and smiled sweetly. The job paid well and she couldn‘t afford to lose it. “Look, Miss, if you don’t pick something to wear you’ll miss your date. And I know how much you’ve been looking forward to it.” Anna had been talking about it nonstop. Whenever she went up to clean the girl’s room she would pounce and start droning on and on about how excited she was.

Anna tapped her bottom lip, thoughtfully. “You have a point.” She spun on Marisol, hands on hips. “Fine. What do you suggest I wear?”

Marisol controlled the urge to sigh and roll her eyes again. She picked the skirt and blouse up off the floor and held them out to Anna. Anna glared at her and snatched them from her. Muttering under her breath, she undressed, and before she put on the clothes Marisol handed her she checked herself out in the mirror, turning this way and that. “Tell me the truth, Marisol. Do I look fat to you?” She pinched her stomach, feeling for excessive flab.

“No, Miss. You don’t look fat,” Marisol said automatically. It was a question Anna was constantly asking. Surprisingly it was true. Anna was not fat despite the insane amount of chocolate she shoved in her face daily, nor was she too thin. It was annoying how the girl had to ask the pointless question almost every day though.

Satisfied with the answer, Anna got dressed. She stood in front of the mirror and struck a pose. Then, sighing, she found her hairbrush and began to brush her straightened coppery hair. Suddenly she stopped and let out a frustrated groan. “Oh, no. This… this won’t do! I shouldn’t just leave it hanging down like this! I don’t know what to do with my hair!”

Turning to the pile on the bed, Marisol got to work putting the clothes back in the walk-in closet while Anna fussed with her hair. She styled it in different ways but none of them worked out too well. Eventually she settled with putting it in twin braids. It took her several attempts before they looked satisfactory to her and then she was done and, after doing a bit of touching up on her makeup, Anna was finally all ready for her date. When she checked the time she was alarmed to see she had finished getting ready too early! She panicked and wondered what she had forgotten to do. She brushed her teeth, used mouthwash, put on her makeup, got dressed, did her hair… “What’d I forget?”

The maid looked her over. “Um… nothing. Just calm down and relax.” _It also wouldn’t hurt to help me with this mess you made_ , she thought to herself. That was the thing with spoiled rich people. They made messes and expected someone else to clean it up. It was her job to do the cleaning, sure, but she had other parts of the house to get done with. She didn’t need to spend one whole hour putting away clothes.

Anna couldn’t sit still. She fidgeted on her bed and continuously glanced at her expensive watch. She put it to her ear and listened to it tick, and while she was doing that she worried about what Elroy was really like. What if he was a gold digger or whatever it was men who took money from women were called? Her leg shook and she tried to stop it. She’d never felt this nervous about a date before. She was really hoping it would turn out fine, but something told her it wouldn’t turn out the way she expected it to.

She examined her manicured nails and put hand lotion on her hands to make them feel as soft as a baby‘s butt. When she heard the knock on her bedroom door, she jumped and felt her heart beat quicken. “Yes?”

It opened, and the butler, Benjamin, poked his head in first before coming in fully. “Miss.” He had a puzzled look on his face and said uncertainly, “Someone has arrived to see you.”

Her face lit up. “Thank you, Benjamin. Tell me, is he cute?” He opened his mouth. “Wait! No. Don’t tell me. I want to be surprised.” She rushed around the room, shouldering her purse and making sure her hair was perfect.

“Miss, I think you should be aware---”

“Not now, Benjamin. Can’t you see I’m in a hurry?”

“But---”

“No ‘buts’.” She looked in her purse, taking in all its contents, and then zipped it closed. “If you have something to tell me it will have to wait. Marisol, when I come back my bed better be cleared of all this clutter.”

“Yes, Miss,” Marisol responded, exchanging a glance with Benjamin.

Anna straightened up and walked out. The butler was right behind her as she rounded a corner to get to the staircase. He didn’t speak despite the words that were itching to come out. They made it to the stairs and Anna descended. There was a figure standing by the entrance hall, shifting from foot to foot. She smiled and reached the landing. “Hello! I’m so glad you could… make it.” Her smile evaporated and her mouth dropped open.


	3. That Hunk of a Whoa-Man, though...

Well, she certainly wasn’t expecting…this.

Instead of the gorgeous hunk of a man she expected to see waiting for her, there was an admittedly beautiful platinum blonde woman in his place. Her hair was done in an enviously perfect single braid that Anna would never have been able to master if she attempted to try it on her own mess of hair and she was wearing a tacky snow-white shirt that said, “Let it go and build a snowman!” in bold blue letters with an oddly deformed snowman in the background. Her pants matched the shirt and had glittery snowflakes along the entire left side of her leg.

Anna shot a look at Benjamin as if saying, “Who the hell is this?” Benjamin only shrugged.

Having no other explanation for the woman’s presence in her house, Anna assumed she had to be the chauffeur, which was a bit puzzling because why would someone who lived in an apartment have a chauffeur? Elroy never mentioned having one. Unless he hired one specifically for their date in an attempt to impress her? She was flattered at the thought, but it bugged her that he sent this woman in before him. She had hoped he would have the audacity to greet her first… but she couldn’t be picky about something so insignificant. Besides, prolonging their meeting made it more suspenseful.

With one hand behind her back, the woman finally spoke up. “You must be Anna,” she said, smiling impishly and viewing Anna with intense blue eyes. All Anna could do was nod mutely. The girl’s smile widened, flashing straight white teeth. “It’s so great to finally meet you!” She brought out the hand she was hiding and presented a bright blue orchid to Anna with great flourish. “I’m Elsa, obviously.”

_Wait… what?_ Anna stared at her, speechless. El…sa? Her Elroy was an ELSA? He was actually a she!? The right side of her face twitched uncontrollably, but other than that little bit of movement, Anna was rigid as a ruler. She was too dazed with shock at this revelation. 

_No, no, no!_ It was all so terribly wrong! She was supposed to be meeting the man of her dreams and THIS was clearly not it! Anna gathered herself as best she could and managed to stammer out pathetically, “Um…erm…that was very thoughtful of you. I…uh… thank you.” She found herself automatically taking the offered flower and she busied her nose by sniffing it while furiously wondering what she was going to do with the problem she was suddenly faced with. 

_How the hell did I get myself into this mess?_ Anna thought. Most importantly, what was she supposed to do now? There was no way she was going to go out with another girl! There was absolutely no way! It was so, so wrong and her face was flaming red just at the thought of it.

“You’re welcome,” Elsa said cheerily. She motioned towards the door. “So…shall we go?”

_No!_ Anna’s instincts told her to bolt upstairs and barricade herself in the safety of her room, but that was a cowardly move and if there was one thing Anna liked to think she wasn‘t, it was a coward. She pretended to be enthralled by the flower as she scoured her brain for a believable excuse to get out of the date. She could say she didn’t feel good, that would work. Technically it wasn’t a lie either since her stomach was acting up on her. 

Anna opened her mouth to inform Elsa she had just come down with a severe case of explosive diarrhea and wouldn’t be able to make their arranged date… but she stopped when it dawned on her that no matter what excuse she came up with Elsa would probably want to reschedule their date for another time. She looked like the type of person who didn’t give up easily on certain things, and if that was true then she’d have to keep lying and lying, and then Elsa would realize she was being lied to and she’d think Anna was a loser and then… Her mind was spinning. Somehow she came up with a decision.

It was best to just get it done and over with. She would do whatever it was Elsa had planned for their date, and then afterwards Anna could say it was fun and all but she didn’t feel a connection with her. Zip, zero. Too bad, so sad. Simple as that. 

Pasting a smile onto her face, Anna lied, “Yup. I’m ready.”

Elsa held the door open for her. “After you.”

Anna gave Benjamin a scathing look. When she returned home she was definitely going to have him fired for this. He should have told her what was going on instead of making her look like an idiot. She mumbled a thanks to Elsa and stepped outside.

Parked in the circular driveway was an old model, moss green Mustang sedan that was in remarkably impeccable condition. Anna gaped at it, running her eyes over the vehicle appreciatively. If she was a guy, she’d totally have a thing for Mustangs. Anna thought they were damn sexy and she definitely would have owned one herself, though preferably a newer model, if she bothered to get a driver’s license. Since her family had a chauffeur to take them places, having a license just seemed highly unnecessary so she never really considered getting one.

“You like it?” Anna gasped and swung her head to the right to look at Elsa, who’d brushed her fingertips lightly against her arm to catch her attention.

“What?” Anna rubbed her arm vigorously where the other girl had touched her.

“I said, do you like it? My car.”

“Your car?” the redhead said, astounded. She’d thought perhaps it might have belonged to one of Hans’s friends. But Hans wasn’t home at the moment so of course none of his friends would be there either. She put her hand on the hood, her fingers touching the smooth metal. “Did your parents get you this?”

Elsa frowned for a quick second. “Nope. Bought it myself.” She opened the passenger side door for Anna and the redhead slid into the seat, inhaling deeply. The interior had a pleasant wintry smell to it thanks to the snowflake air freshener dangling from the rearview mirror. Elsa got in on the driver’s side and started the car up, the engine purring smoothly to life. “I hope you’re hungry,” she said as the Mustang rolled down the driveway, stopping just before the street as Elsa checked both ways for oncoming cars before safely turning onto the main road.

“Starving.” In reality Anna didn’t think she’d be able to eat a bite. Whatever she managed to get down she’d most likely end up throwing up. She leaned her head against the window, hoping the date would go by relatively quick.

~ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0ox0~

On the drive to the restaurant Elsa occasionally took her eyes off the road to steal quick glances at Anna, who sat in the seat beside her looking tense and uncomfortable. Anna was sitting as close as she possibly could to the door as if readying for an escape, her hand flexing around the door handle. The silence in the car was killing Elsa and she fumbled through her brain, trying to find something to say to break it. It was so easy to strike up conversations online… why was partaking in conversations in real life difficult? Before she could come up with anything, the restaurant came into view. Elsa parked in an empty space and the two girls entered the restaurant.

“Elsa!” A waitress approached them, beaming and waving excitedly. “Hey! You can’t seem to stay away from this place, can you?”

“Nope. It‘s like a second home to me,” Elsa quipped and the waitress laughed and slapped her knee as if she’d said the most funniest thing in the world. Anna was appalled to hear the girl snorting while she laughed. It was rather embarrassing.

The waitress found them an empty table and took their orders. Anna ordered a salad and Elsa ordered spaghetti with meatballs. She heard Anna make a disgusted sound and said, “What? You don’t like spaghetti and meatballs?”

“No… I dislike spaghetti because it reminds me of worms,” Anna said disdainfully. She glanced at her wristwatch and sighed in irritation. Why was it whenever you wanted time to speed up it went super slow? She tapped the glass covering on her watch as if that would help the time go faster. She noticed Elsa studying her curiously. “What?” she snapped impatiently.

Elsa held up her hands defensively. “Nothing. You just look like you’re in a hurry or something.” She folded her hands together on top of the table. “Is… there something wrong? You‘ve barely said a word since we got into the car.”

Anna huffed and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms. “You‘re a girl.”

Elsa blinked at her. “Um…yes?” she said puzzled. “Last time I checked, at least.”

Anna snorted and grumbled under her breath. Elsa leaned closer to hear what she was saying. “This must be some sort of prank. I’m being Punk’d or something.”

“Pardon?” Elsa said, slightly amused and confused at the same time.

“You think this is funny, don’t you? I bet you do this all the time.”

Elsa scratched the back of her neck, looking uncertain. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand…”

Anna ground her teeth together. How dare this girl make her look like a fool! “How many people have you done this to?” Elsa looked utterly lost at that. “How long have you been pretending to be a man on the internet to get dates with women?”

Elsa wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or not, so she didn’t. “Pretending to be a guy? I wasn’t aware I was doing that.” She chuckled at the absurd accusation. “Why on earth would I want to?” She wrinkled her nose as if she were disgusted at such an idea. “I’m not really sure what gave you that idea, honestly… I told you my name up front and I‘m pretty certain it‘s strictly a girl‘s name… and I don’t know why but for some reason you insisted on calling me El.”

_Damn cat butt_ , Anna thought with a scowl.

“Anyway, I was under the impression you were looking for a relationship with a female…” Elsa said, circling the rim of her glass of water with her index finger. “I mean, if you were searching for a guy then what was the L in your first post supposed to stand for?”

The food arrived at that point. Neither of them touched it.

Anna’s eyes widened. “You thought…” She slapped her forehead so hard that when she took it away there was a large red mark. “The L stood for looking! Not… that!” If she’d known it would have caused confusion she would have typed the entire word out. Damn her and her laziness! She massaged her head, feeling a strong headache coming on. 

Elsa twirled her spaghetti around her fork and took a bite, keeping her eyes on Anna. It would have been a perfect opportunity to give her a relaxing shoulder massage and she almost offered one to the flustered redhead but thought better of it. There was a huge dilemma going on caused by a simple misunderstanding. To Anna it was apparently traumatizing, but Elsa found it quite entertaining.

“Why were you looking for a date online, if you don’t mind my asking? You’re a pretty girl.” Elsa appraised her studiously. “Beautiful, really. Guys should be jumping all over each other just to get a date with you.”

Beautiful. Hearing it coming from another female was very strange and Anna’s cheeks flushed. She stabbed her salad and shoved the forkful into her mouth and chewed on it aggressively. After she swallowed the bite she said, “Because the guys around here are jerks. The only thing they want from me is my money or my body, and quite frankly it’s annoying. There’s no connection. I want something more from a relationship, you know? I want someone to love me for who I am. Someone smart but not nerdy, and someone attractive and sexy, but not plastic surgery-ish. You know what I mean?”

Elsa had propped her left elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand while she worried her food with the fork. She never took her eyes off Anna the entire time the other girl spoke, listening to her words with genuine interest. “Actually, I do,” she answered, dropping her fork. “You want to know my opinion? I think you’ve been looking in the wrong place. Clearly what you’re looking for is not in the package you’re expecting. My advice? Forget about men. What you need is a woman,” she declared. Waggling her eyebrows, she pointed at herself confidently. “And here I am!”

“Oh…my…God,” Anna moaned and hid behind her hands, sliding low into her seat, wanting desperately to escape.

Elsa continued, unbothered by Anna‘s embarrassed display. “You want someone who likes you for who you are. Okay, well, you’re kinda weird, if you want to know the truth, but that’s not a bad thing,” she said hastily. “Your weirdness is undeniably you and it’s quite fascinating, truthfully! As for the whole money issue, I don’t care about that. Hell, if I had as much as you I’d donate it and put it to some good use. I don’t need an expensive house, or fast cars. I’m happy with what I’ve got---my small apartment; Sven, my dog.” She considered Anna for a moment. “Possibly you,” she teased.

Anna felt her face heat up and she stuttered, “N-no thanks! I’m straight and proud. I don’t plan on turning gay anytime soon… or ever, for that matter!”

Elsa drank some of her water before grinning widely and steepled her fingers, raising an eyebrow. “You say you’re straight but are you really? Think about it for a second. You haven’t found a steady relationship yet and you‘ve been strictly dating guys. Maybe that’s a sign that guys just aren’t for you.”

Anna couldn’t believe this woman. She let out a tinny laugh. “Look, I know I‘m straight. I like guys!” she emphasized. “But like I said, the ones available in this dump are assholes and just plain losers. If I look elsewhere I‘m sure I‘ll find the one that‘s right for me.”

Elsa looked disappointed. “I see.” It never once crossed her mind that Anna might not actually be a lesbian… but was it her fault for she reading things wrong? Then again, she should have noticed something was off when the butler gave her a weird look after she told him who she was and why she was there… She cursed herself for being blind.

“I think it’s time to go,” Anna said, breaking into her thoughts. She reached for her purse to get out her money but Elsa shook her head.

“I’ve got this.” Elsa took out her wallet, and when the waitress came back she paid for their barely touched dinner and they left the restaurant. They walked side by side to the car in silence, and then Elsa stopped Anna by placing a hand on her shoulder. Anna flinched at the touch and Elsa pretended she didn’t notice. “Anna, I was wondering... Would it be okay if we saw each other again? Just as friends!” she rushed out. “I-I really enjoyed being in your company despite the circumstances and I don’t want things to end on a sour note between us.”

_No. Absolutely not._ That’s what Anna wanted to say, but the words never made it out from between her lips. Elsa’s earnest eyes prevented that from happening. Suddenly she felt very trapped, like she had no choice but to accept, though it was a ridiculous feeling because it wasn’t like she was being threatened in anyway. Elsa wasn’t forcing her to say yes. All she had to do was say no and that would be it. Most likely they would never speak or see each other ever again, and this should have cheered Anna up, but the truth was she liked Elsa. Merely as a friend, of course… She liked talking with her online, even though the whole time she assumed Elsa was a guy, and she was sure if they started up a conversation in person that wasn’t lesbian related it would be just as great.

Anna gave in. “Fine. How about Saturday?” It wasn’t like she had anything better to do. “It won’t be a date,” she clarified. “It‘ll just be two acquaintances hanging out, got it?” Oh, god, what was she doing?

“That’s perfect,” Elsa stated brightly. “I‘m looking forward to it already.”

Elsa drove her back home after that, and Anna, forgetting all about yelling at Benjamin and having him fired, immediately went to her room and climbed into bed, feeling exhausted. Her eyes slipped shut, and the last thing she saw in her head was an image of Elsa before she fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Falling For Her

“Like, oh my God! Look at this gorgeous dress! It’s absolutely breathtaking!” Jasmine gushed dreamily, feeling the fabric of a showy, turquoise dress. “I just have to have it!”

Belle, Ariel, and Anna all sighed in unison. Every single time they came to this one store Jasmine was always drawn to the dress, exclaiming that she had to get it. The three girls had to constantly remind their not-so-bright friend that she’d already bought the same dress on three separate occasions, and so far she never even wore any of them. They dragged her away from the dress and all went into a café where they ordered caffienated beverages.

“I so need a vacation,” Belle declared, stirring the cream on top of her coffee. “But my parents are being so stupid and are saying they want to go to Alaska. Alaska! Who goes to Alaska these days?”

Ariel nodded. “The Bahamas are totally in. That’s where all the hot guys are. Besides, if you go to Alaska you’ll be attacked by penguins and contract the mad penguin disease.”

Anna choked on her espresso and had to pat herself on the back. Her friends just gave her dirty looks and didn’t even bother asking if she was okay. “Mad penguin disease? Where the hell did you hear that?” she gasped out.

“Why, from my uncle Scuttle. He’s been to Alaska, you know, and he saw for himself someone who was infected. It makes your hair turn gray and you grow webbed feet and you get sudden cravings for fish!” Ariel informed them seriously. Belle and Jasmine were captivated by this news, but Anna didn’t buy it. She may not know a lot about diseases and stuff, but she was pretty sure mad penguin disease did not exist.

“You guys,” Anna interjected in an attempt to change the topic when they all started a heated discussion about the nonexistent disease. “You won’t believe what happened to me the other day.” Their attention turned to her but none of them looked like they cared about what she was going to say. They clearly wanted to talk about the fascinating disease.

“What?” Jasmine said, sounding more than a bit irritated.

Ignoring her friend’s tone, she told the three of them about how she went on a chat room to look for a date. “I met someone and we actually went out on a date.”

That perked them up. “Oh yeah? Is he cute? What does he look like? How‘d your date go?” Ariel fired her questions at Anna in machine gun fashion.

“Well,” drawled Anna, “you won’t believe it but … it turned out…”

“Yes?? What?” All three of them leaned in close expectantly. The suspense was killing them.

Anna blurted it out. “The person was actually a girl.”

This revelation was met with an awkward silence that lasted for an entire thirty seconds. Ariel was the first to pipe up. “Ew… Gross. You went out with another girl?” Disgust was vivid on her heavily made up face. She had a tendency to put on too much makeup and clearly didn’t know what a mirror was for.

Belle gasped into her hands. “Oh my God, Anna! You mean you’re…”

“No!” Anna denied fiercely. “Jeez. I’m not! Look, I didn’t know she was a she, I thought she was a guy! Her screen name was chick magnet for crying out loud. What would you think?”

Jasmine chewed on her hair thoughtfully. “Why didn’t you lock yourself in your room? Why did you go with her?” She didn’t give Anna any time to answer, just kept popping out more and more questions. “How old was she? Was she ugly? Did she kiss you? Did you vomit?”

Anna covered her ears and wished Jasmine would shut up. She didn’t waste her breath saying it out loud because once Jasmine got started she never closed her mouth. She watched as her friends began talking animatedly about her as if she weren’t even sitting at the same table.

“No guy wants her so she turns to females. How sickening!”

“What if she has a crush on one of us?” This created three simultaneous gasps and three pairs of eyes fixed on Anna, looking at her as if she were the plague.

“Are you serious?” Anna’s hip bumped the table as she got up to leave, causing the drinks on the table to slosh and spill over the sides of the cups. These people were supposed to be her friends and they were talking crap about her right in front of her face! It was outrageous! In a cool manner she took one last drink of her beverage, placed it on the table, and said in an equally unfriendly tone, “I’m not going to sit here and listen to this nonsense.” She spun deftly on her heel, pivoting so fast her hair fanned out behind her gracefully.

She left her friends at the café and she didn’t care if she never spoke to any of them again.

Anna scoffed to herself. She couldn’t believe they had the gall to accuse her of being a lesbian. She definitely, totally was not a lesbian and never in a million years would she become one.

\-------------------------------------------

“Hey,” Elsa greeted warmly on Saturday as Anna slid into the Mustang. Elsa was extremely excited to see the redhead and had to try and contain that excitement but was having a difficult time doing so. She had thought about Anna constantly during the week: when she lay awake in bed at night; while she was at work. Elsa couldn’t exactly explain what it was, but she really liked Anna. Anna was wearing jeans--- which she looked fine in --- and a jacket over her blouse. “How was your week?”

Anna rolled down the window, not looking at her. “Well, thanks to you I lost my three only friends.” She tapped her finger against her knee.

Elsa was surprised. “What do you mean?”

She told Elsa what happened in the café. Elsa drove while listening intently, her jaw slightly clenched. She was astounded. “I wouldn’t call them friends if they talk about you like that. Imagine what they said about you before this. I’d say good riddance.” Anna snorted but said nothing. “So… is there anything in particular you want to do? If not I’ve got a great idea.”

For once Anna actually looked at Elsa. Really looked at her. Her blond hair was in a ponytail this time and several strands of it were free of confinement and hanging loosely around her neck. Anna watched as Elsa absentmindedly brushed them back, tucking them behind her ear. From what she could see by checking out Elsa’s profile, she was far from ugly. She wore no makeup, but she really didn’t need to. Anna also didn’t need it since she was a natural beauty herself, but makeup was one of the things that made a female feminine. Plus her mother would be horrified if she didn’t wear any. Despite lacking makeup, there wasn’t anything manly about Elsa, which puzzled Anna. Didn’t lesbians have some manly characteristics? She vaguely wondered if Elsa had hairy pits but she couldn‘t detect anything with the shirt she was wearing. Anna’s eyes trailed down Elsa’s arm to her surprisingly slender hands, gripping the steering wheel firmly. On her right hand there was a gold ring with a tiny dark blue jewel on the finger between her pinky and middle finger.

Returning her attention to Elsa’s face once more, Anna quickly realized Elsa was aware of her close scrutiny. The blond didn’t say anything, but judging from the side smirk she had on her lips Anna was positive she knew she was being observed. Anna flushed and shifted her eyes downward, clasping her hands together tightly in her lap. “I don’t know. I didn’t even think about it,” she muttered in answer to Elsa’s question.

That wasn’t true. Anna pondered what to do many times during the week. She came up with nothing. Her mind was blank. Oh, there were many things that she wanted to do, like go to the zoo for instance. But she remembered a conversation they had online, before she ever met Elsa in real life and before she found out she was a girl.

Elsa loved animals but she opposed zoos. She considered them prisons for animals but, unlike human prisons, the animals were always innocent. “Animals shouldn’t be penned up. They should be free to roam around in their natural habitat. But you know what? Pretty soon those prisons are going to be the only place animals will exist. Because as long as we keep killing them off and destroying their habitats they’ll die out…”

Going to a zoo was out of the question. Besides, it was too late to go to one now anyway. “What’s your ‘great idea’?”

\------------------------------------------  
Elsa’s great idea was to go for a walk in the park.

“This is exciting,” Anna said flatly, her words dripping thickly with sarcasm, expressing how truly thrilled she was.

Her remark caused a throaty laugh to slip from Elsa’s mouth and the sound had a peculiar affect on Anna, sending a shot of heat spiraling unexpectedly to her abdominal area. It was such an unsettling sensation that it brought her to an abrupt stop and she inhaled harshly. Whirling on Elsa and jabbing an extended index finger at her, she said sharply, “Don’t do that again!” 

Taken aback by the angry outburst, Elsa regarded her with a look of puzzlement. “Don’t do what?”

Anna grumbled under her breath and ignored her question, sliding a hand under her shirt and rubbing her stomach as if to soothe herself.

Elsa arched an eyebrow and shrugged, accepting the display as part of Anna’s ever growing, interesting personality. Returning back to Anna’s exciting comment, she explained with a light chuckle, “It’s not really supposed to be exciting. It’s supposed to be relaxing!” Elsa was hoping the fresh air would help resolve the tension that was wedged between them and give them time to talk outside of a stuffy and crowded environment.

“Well, it’s stupid!” Anna hugged herself and glanced around surreptitiously and complained, “It’s dark out. Don’t you know bad things always happen to people in parks at night?” She was furious when Elsa burst out laughing. “I’m serious! It always happens in movies and books.”

“You read books?” Elsa asked incredulously. She’d have never guessed. The topic never came up during one of their online discussions and Anna seemed like the type who would despise reading. 

“Occasionally,” Anna said defensively, puffing out her cheeks. 

They followed the cement pathway that went through the park and Elsa made it a game of hopping over the cracks. “The reason it always happens in movies and books is simply because the park is a perfect setting for scary scenarios. It’s usually deserted at night and it’s suspenseful when a character cuts through the park when there’s a killer on the loose.” Elsa lowered her voice and leaned closer to Anna. “Who knows, maybe there’s a killer spying on us right now, plotting on a way to kill us. It could even be a vampire, or perhaps a zombie...”

Anna quickly scanned her surroundings for any shady characters lurking in the shadows. The only person she could see other than Elsa was a homeless man sleeping on a cold bench with newspaper covering him like a flimsy blanket and he wasn’t looking anything but grungy. Looks could be deceiving, she reminded herself. He could have been a killer disguised as a hobo, waiting for unsuspecting victims to walk by him so he could grab them and…

Anna stiffened when she felt Elsa‘s invading breath against her ear and the older girl whispered spookily, “They’re coming to get you, Anna.” 

“Shut up,” Anna hissed, shoving Elsa away roughly as her heart rate picked up. The mischievous grin on Elsa’s face infuriated her and she was tempted to smack it off. As they drew closer to the sleeping man, Anna purposely steered clear of the bench, walking off the path onto the grass on the opposite side just to avoid going near him.

Elsa didn’t follow her lead.

The blond paused directly in front of him, and Anna tensed up fully expecting the man to spring up and attack her. Frantically she waved for Elsa to hurry up, but Elsa was in no rush. She knelt down so her face was level with his and touched his arm.

“Wha!” He flung up an arm as if trying to fend off an attacker. When nothing happened to him he sat up dazedly. The newspaper that previously covered him floated gently to the ground. He squinted at Elsa suspiciously, pulling on his matted, scraggly beard, wondering what was happening.

Elsa scooped the newspaper up and set it on the bench. Anna watched with a mixture of disgust and bewilderment when Elsa gave the man money. She guessed from the happiness that radiated from the man that whatever she gave him must have been a decent amount. He thanked her ecstatically and enveloped her in a hug, much to Anna‘s horror. “Thank you! God bless you!”

“Why did you do that?” Anna demanded when Elsa returned to her and they watched the bum go on his way with a huge grin stuck on his face. “He’s just going to go buy alcohol or drugs with it!”

“Anna, not all homeless people are alcoholics or drug addicts,” Elsa informed her gently. “I may not know his story but he certainly didn’t strike me as either of those things.” She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her pants, her shoes scuffing the walkway. “I gave him money because I’ve been in his position before. I know what it‘s like to live on the streets,” she revealed. “It’s not easy.”

Anna thought she was joking around and started to laugh but quickly realized Elsa was dead serious by the deep frown that marred her face. “Really? You mean you were homeless?”

“For almost half a year, yes. My parents kicked me out of the house when I was fourteen and I literally had nothing but the clothes on my back. I was too young to legally work so most of the time I had to beg for money or find other means of coming up with the proper necessities to survive.” Elsa exhaled deeply, reliving painful memories. “It was a very difficult time for me and I did a lot of things I‘m not proud of… But in a time of crisis you do what you have to do.”

Anna took in this news somberly. “Wow, that… um… that really must have sucked.”

“It did,” Elsa agreed, kicking a rock chilling in her path. “But I managed to catch some luck, in the end. After barely surviving on my own for about six months, a kind old couple stumbled upon me early one morning when I was taking shelter in a park. I was sleeping under a slide at the playground there when I was woken up by voices and found an old man and an old lady peering down at me. They saw I was homeless and took me in, and I was so grateful for their help.” She smiled faintly. “They helped me get back on my feet. Eventually I saved up enough money to comfortably support myself so when they made the decision to move to Florida I was able to afford my own apartment. I hate to think of where I’d be now if they didn’t intervene…”

The reason behind why Elsa’s parents kicked her out of her home was nagging at Anna, but she told herself it really wasn’t her business and she didn’t want to seem nosy… but curiosity got the better of her. She opened her mouth to ask, but before she could get her question out Elsa interrupted her. 

Covering her eyes with one hand and scowling, Elsa said, “Sorry about that. We’re supposed to be on a peaceful stroll and here I am talking about something depressing. Enough of my sob story.” Throwing her head back, she took in a healthy lungful of refreshing air and sighed contentedly. “I really love taking walks. It‘s a perfect time to admire the world and let loose your thoughts.” What she enjoyed most about it was the solitude it brought and not having to deal with other people, but she wasn’t complaining about her current company, even if she was a bit feisty.

Anna discovered it was quite relaxing, though she didn‘t dare admit that out loud because she knew Elsa would tease her relentlessly about it. Anna was so relaxed that she was even tempted to lay on the cool grass and gaze up at the star filled sky even knowing it was probably crawling with nasty critters. She made a note to take walks more often as they walked past the lake and marveled at how the water sparkled in the moonlight. Anna ducked low and dipped her hand in the water, skimming the calm surface. It was a lot colder than she expected so she quickly removed her hand, drying it on her pants. A slight breeze blew her hair gently around her, tickling the side of her face and she pulled it back to get it out of the way.

Elsa tilted her head, looking at Anna sideways and caught the redhead adorably nibbling furiously on her bottom lip. “You‘re gorgeous,” she murmured unthinkingly.

It was like she doused Anna in gasoline and set her on fire with a match, for as soon as she spoke those words Anna’s entire body heated up. Her cheeks flamed red and the redness rapidly spread up to her ears and down her neck. She avoided eye contact and stammered unintelligibly as she walked faster, putting a great distance between them.

They walked separately for some time in silence until Elsa, after mentally berating herself five whole minutes for being an idiot, caught up with Anna and apologized. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just… it just came out, I’m sorry.”

Anna slowed her pace and sighed heavily. “It’s… okay. I overreacted. I guess I’m just not used to hearing compliments like that from anyone.” Especially not from another girl, she thought. “It surprised me.” She wrung her hands together in a nervous gesture. “To tell you the truth I’ve never really had a friend or someone close to me who wasn‘t stuck up or bitchy. You‘re the first person who has been honest and sincere with me and I think… you could be a very great friend. Considering I’m currently friendless, I could use one of those.” 

Elsa nodded slowly and said with a wink, “Consider yourself no longer friendless.”

Anna’s blush renewed at the wink, though this time it wasn’t so noticeable. Their peaceful walk continued until she shivered, and at the corner of her eye she caught Elsa moving closer to her, lifting an arm as if she were going to put it around Anna to warm her. But then Elsa stopped, apparently thinking better of it, and let her arm drop back to her side, inching away and leaving more space between them.

“If you’re cold we can go back to the car,” Elsa suggested.

“That would be great.” Anna yawned, her hand going up to cover her mouth. She took her eyes off the ground for less than a second and her foot hit a tree root protruding from the concrete path that she hadn‘t noticed, causing her to trip and fall. She would have kissed the pavement if Elsa hadn’t jumped in front of her, catching her in her arms and halting her fall.

The catch transformed into an embrace. Elsa’s arms went around Anna and she held on to her, enjoying the warmth of her. She didn’t want to let go. But Anna, whose heart was hammering so hard in her chest from her panic due to Elsa being so close, twisted away, and after mumbling a thank you, hurriedly power walked toward the car, leaving Elsa deflated and for the second time that night feeling like an idiot.

\---------------------------

The ride back to the mansion was hushed, thick with tension. Elsa fiddled with the radio knobs, searching for a good station. She stopped on one that was playing an Evanescence song and turned the volume up to drown out the stiff silence that permeated the air. By the time she pulled into Anna’s driveway she was feeling a teensy bit better. She accompanied Anna to the door. The motion sensor light that should have automatically blinked on, illuminating a large part of the front area, didn‘t come on, leaving the both of them standing in darkness. 

Elsa worried her ring, twisting it around her finger. “Anna, I---” She cut herself off, hearing a horse neighing somewhere close by. Her eyes lit up. “Do you have a horse?”

“Yes. I told you that,” Anna said.

“No you didn’t. You mentioned your cat and a llama that you once had. I’m pretty sure you never said anything about a horse.” Elsa definitely would have remembered.

“Oh.” Anna shrugged indifferently. “I have a horse. Trixie’s probably bothering him right now. She tends to do that a lot.”

“Can I see him?” Elsa looked like an excited little girl.

Anna was tired from their walk in the park. “No. Not right now.” She hesitated. “Another time.”

Elsa perked up at that, her face bright with delight at the prospect of seeing her again. “Real soon, I hope.”

Both girls looked towards the door when it swung open and Benjamin looked out. His jaw practically dropped to the floor when he saw Elsa there. It was evident he was surprised to see her again. She waved at him in greeting before he closed the door after receiving a long, hard stare from Anna. To Elsa, she said evenly, “We’ll see. I’ll talk to you online. Good night.”

“Night,” Elsa responded and waited till Anna slipped inside before turning to go.


	5. A Low Blow

Elsa arrived at Anna’s around three in the afternoon, excitement pulsing through her veins, pumping her up. She absolutely couldn’t wait to meet Anna’s horse. Horses were her favorite animal and she had quite a few fond memories from her childhood and early teenage years revolving around the magnificent species.

Of course, Elsa’s excitement wasn’t just aimed at the horse. Anna was also a major part of it. She couldn’t believe how strong her attraction for the redheaded girl was. She’d dated and fooled around with plenty of women over the years but none of them made her heart flutter at the mere sight of her or the slightest touch. None of them haunted her dreams at night like Anna did. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure what it was about her that made her different from the rest. All she knew was that she wanted her, and if Anna was straight as she adamantly claimed to be and was not heavily submerged in denial like Elsa hoped she was then that would prove to be a problem… But Elsa had faced many problems in the past and she managed to overcome them all fairly well. This one wouldn’t be so hard.

Tightening her ponytail, she licked her lips and discovered they were incredibly dry so she rubbed on some chap stick to moisten them. Releasing her breath and relaxing her shoulders, Elsa lifted the heavy brass door knocker and knocked three times. She waited, her hands behind her back, fingering the one thing she still had from her past--- a ring that her grandmother had given her before she passed away. The ring meant a lot to Elsa and she never took it off except on the brief occasions she came into contact with water to avoid tarnishing it. Her grandmother had been the only one in her family she felt who really cared about her. She was Elsa’s friend and confidant. Elsa was able to tell her anything and everything without having to worry about being judged or looked down on, and when she died it was a devastating loss for her.

The door finally opened, snapping her out of her thoughts and back to attention. She expected to see Benjamin and was prepared to greet him cheerfully, but instead of the butler standing in the doorway there was a skinny, pale, shaggy red-haired guy with a face shrouded in miniature volcanoes. Elsa immediately guessed he was Anna’s brother.

His eyes trailed Elsa from head to toe and then back up again. “Well hello there. What are you selling?”

“Um… I’m not selling anything,” Elsa said.

The corners of his mouth went up and he slouched against the door frame with his arms crossed, attempting to look cool and failing miserably. “That’s too bad,” he said, blatantly checking her out again.

She bristled, not thrilled at having his eyes on her like that. He was inconsiderate and rude and she automatically hated his guts. “I’m here to see Anna,” she said brusquely.

“Anna?” He guffawed, smacking his knee, finding something about her comment insanely hilarious. Elsa was about ready to punch his lights out. It was rare for her to explode and strike someone and it took a lot to get her angry. There were some things--- and some people--- she just couldn’t tolerate. 

He was laughing so hard there were tears gushing from his eyes and he quickly wiped them away. “You’re kidding me. Listen, you might as well turn around and go unless Anna is---”

“---expecting me,” Elsa cut in. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

He was about to ask how she knew Anna in the first place since it was uncommon for his sister to associate herself with someone in a lower class, when loud, pounding footsteps were heard behind him. Elsa’s mouth twitched, a smile forcing its way onto her lips as Anna came zipping down the stairs. She stopped in her tracks when she reached the bottom, seeing Hans at the door with Elsa.

“Hans! What are you doing?” she cried shrilly, running up to him, grabbing his upper arm and jerking him aside. “Benjamin’s supposed to get the door! It’s his job!” she reminded him, gesticulating wildly. Anna had hoped no one in her family would ever see Elsa. She knew once they saw her they’d have a lot of questions to ask. Already she could see the suspicion in her brother’s eyes.

“Do you know this girl?” Hans asked her, sticking his finger rudely in Elsa’s face. 

Elsa narrowed her eyes at the intruding digit and was tempted to bite it off, but she stood still, devoid of expression, while she silently seethed inside.

Meeting Elsa’s eyes, Anna felt an embarrassed blush surface on her face. “I…uh…” She averted her eyes as panic set in. How was she going to explain Elsa’s presence? A lie formed in her head and she almost said no, that she had never seen the girl at the door before in her life and slammed the door in Elsa’s face, because that was what Hans was expecting. She actually reached in front of Hans and grabbed hold of the door with the intention to do just that, but she stopped herself before she could go through with it. Elsa had come all this way because Anna told her she could see her horse and so she would let her see it. “Er…um… she… uh… wanted to see my…” Trixie hopped onto the stoop right at that particular moment and meowed loudly, catching everyone’s attention. Anna tracked the cat’s movements as she meandered inside and finished distractedly, “My pussy.” 

A snicker bubbled up in Elsa’s throat and she coughed to cover it up, raising a hand to her mouth to hide the ridiculous grin that took shape on her lips.

Realizing what slipped out, Anna blanched and rushed out hurriedly, “HORSE! She‘s checking up on Marshmallow!”

“She’s here to see a stupid horse?” Hans said skeptically.

Elsa lost her smile and balled her hands into fists at the insult aimed at what she knew to be a very intelligent species. “Horses aren’t stupid,” she said flatly, wanting to add something rude at the end and closing her mouth promptly before it spilled out.

“What do you know?” he shot back. “All animals are stupid. Why do you think humans---”

Anna intervened, stepping between the two. She could see Elsa was getting riled up by Hans’s words and there was no telling how far things would escalate if she let it go any further. “Shut up, Hans,” she growled. She poked Elsa in her side discreetly, silently telling her to follow her. 

Elsa gladly did so. She was itching to flip Hans off before she turned away, but that wasn’t her style so she refrained from doing so. She followed Anna around the side of the mansion, past the neatly trimmed hedges and onto the recently swept pathway.

“Excuse me for saying this,” Elsa said as they cut across the freshly cut grass to get to the small barn with the horse stable and the riding ring to the side of it, “but your brother is an obnoxious jerk.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Anna muttered under her breath.

Elsa smirked, thinking back to Anna’s earlier slip-up at the sudden appearance of her cat. It was too great of an opportunity to pass up. “You have a nice pussy,” she complimented lightheartedly.

Skittering to a stumbling stop, Anna gawked at her in mortified shock, red swiftly blossoming across her cheeks as she sputtered, “Excuse me?”

“That was your cat, right?” Elsa inquired innocently, stretching her arms up high in the air. “She‘s a beautiful cat. Is she a pure breed?”

“What?” Anna’s nostrils flared as she continued to stare at Elsa long and hard. Forcing out a strained laugh, she faced forward and resumed walking. “Oh, yeah, she is, actually.”

They drew closer to the barn and Elsa briskly walked up to it and tugged on the barn door. It swung open and she waited for Anna to go in first before stepping inside herself. The nostalgic smell of hay and horse permeated the air, invading Elsa’s nose. She welcomed it, breathing it in thoroughly.

Anna, on the other hand, didn’t enjoy what she considered to be a foul stench. She pinched her nose and was about to tell Elsa that she’d wait outside and that she would give her a total of five minutes to see the horse and that was all. But before she could say anything a white and ridiculously fluffy horse poked his thick, sturdy neck over the gate that kept him enclosed in his stall and neighed loudly, catching Elsa’s undivided attention. 

Dashing over to Marshmallow with child-like eagerness, her entire face lighting up happily, Elsa reached out her hand, letting the horse sniff it to get him familiarized with her scent. He nudged her hand with his muzzle, the fine peach-fuzz above his nostrils tickling her palm.

Anna stood by, watching the meeting unfold with interest. Suddenly, much to Anna’s great surprise--- and sheer horror--- Elsa’s eyes welled up with tears. “What’s wrong? Did he hurt you?” she asked alarmed.

Elsa laughed softly; sadly. “No, I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.” She rubbed the horse’s neck and pulled a clear, plastic Ziploc baggie from her back pocket filled with pieces of chopped up apple and carrot. She poured some in her hand and held it out to the horse, who sniffed it first before calmly and gently gobbling it down. “His name’s Marshmallow?” Anna nodded and said yes. Elsa smiled, petting him. “I used to go horseback riding all the time at my uncle’s. He owned ten beautiful horses. There was this one horse, a buckskin named Willow, who I adored so much. She was my favorite out of all of them because she was so gentle and she would always come up to me and hang out when I went by the fence to watch the horses run and graze in the field.” She sighed wistfully. “It’s been so long… I miss them so much.”

Anna was starting to feel guilty for neglecting her horse. The stableman took good care of Marshmallow, cleaning his stable, feeding him, and letting him run free in the ring to get some exercise daily, but Anna herself hadn’t given any attention to him for a very long time. She made a note to go see him more often. “Why’d you stop going then?” She was getting jealous watching Marshmallow bump Elsa in what appeared to be an affectionate way with his nose. He kept sniffing her, hoping for more treats. Elsa didn’t disappoint him.

Elsa crumpled the now empty bag into a ball and stuffed it back in her pocket. “I didn’t see the point in trying, honestly. My uncle is my mother‘s brother. She’d have called him and warned him not to take me in after they disowned me.”

When she offered nothing more, Anna, who had to know the reason behind why Elsa’s parents kicked her out finally asked, “Why’d they do that to you?” She couldn’t for the life of her understand how Elsa, the most nicest and unselfish person she’d ever met, could be treated so poorly by the people who were supposed to care for her. Elsa wasn’t a troublemaker and didn’t seem to have a bad bone in her body and she was a very pleasant to be around for the most part, at least when she wasn’t being a lesbian… so what could have happened?

Elsa played with the latch on Marshmallow’s gate, flipping it open and closed dispassionately. “They caught me with another girl, if you know what I mean.”

“Ah… Oh… Er… I see,” Anna said, fidgeting and shifting her eyes so she didn’t meet Elsa’s, instantly regretting allowing the question to leave her mouth. She just had to poke her nose where it didn’t belong and open that closet door…

“My parents,” Elsa said bitterly, “are religiously against ‘happy’ people. They find same gender couples appalling. They were always going on about how God made men to love women and vise versa. It’s ‘unnatural’ and ‘wrong’ if it’s the other way, and we’ll ‘burn in hell’.” She snorted and kicked at the floor. “If hell exists I hope they burn in it,” she muttered darkly.

Anna tentatively stretched her arm out to stroke Marshmallow’s mane. “You seem to resent your parents a lot,” she observed.

For a moment Elsa said nothing. She went down, dropping to the hay-covered floor heavily in an upright position, sifting her hand through the loose strands of hay. “Yes, I do,” she admitted sadly, guiltily burying her face in her hands. “And I dislike saying so because hate is such a strong and ugly thing to feel. It can consume you and change you in the worst way…. But my parents… there’s literally nothing to love about them.”

Elsa had never felt an ounce of happiness growing up with her parents. The Coronas were very strict people and made sure everything went their way. They demanded respect from everyone but refused to dish out the same treatment to others. The Coronas were moderately wealthy, not super rich like the Arendelles, but from they way they acted one would think they were the richest people in the world. They were greedy and selfish when it came to money but they weren’t stingy when it came to spending it on certain luxuries. One of the things they considered as a luxury was private school for Elsa, who despised it with a passion because she had to wear an ugly uniform---and with a skirt nonetheless. 

Elsa was never comfortable in skirts because they were too short for her liking and made her feel exposed, but her mother forced her to wear them at all times. According to her it was unlady-like for decent girls to wear what she considered manly attire. It didn’t matter that practically every girl in this day and age wore pants. Elsa argued with Mrs. Corona many times about getting new clothes, but her mother was adamant about it and ignored her. One day, at age twelve, Elsa came home wearing a pair of blue jeans she’d bought at the store. Her mother went berserk and ordered her to take them off and throw them away but Elsa refused, and as punishment she was removed from private school and sent to public school instead. Her mother had said, “If you’re going to dress trashy then you’ll go to a trashy school.”

“Some punishment,” Elsa remarked, hunched over, drawing circles in the dirt with a thin piece of hay. “Public school was the best thing that happened to me.” She was able to be herself, with no barriers. She got along with just about everyone there and she made plenty of cool friends. It was a nice change from her private school days, where she didn’t have a single friend because they were all so sickeningly stuck up…

“I was never allowed to have any of my so called ‘trashy’ friends inside the house. Mother forbade it. And I never dared to disobey her---except this one time.”

Anna knew where this was going. She didn’t really want to hear it but kept quiet, concentrating on petting Marshmallow. She found petting the four-legged beast was actually quite enjoyable.

Elsa had an unofficial girlfriend named Meg who was always pestering her about going home with her so they could spend some time alone together. No matter how many times Elsa told her no, Meg consistently bothered her about it. Elsa even told her the reason why she couldn’t do it, thinking it would get her off her back. All that managed to do was fuel the girl‘s need, prompting Meg to dare her to sneak her into the house when both of her parents were at work. Against her better judgment, Elsa gave in to Meg’s demand. The Coronas worked very late and rarely came home on time or early, and though Elsa felt a little uneasy about the idea, she figured, what harm could it do? 

It turned out a whole lot.

On the one day Elsa decided to sneak Meg into the house, both of her parents inexplicably ended up coming home early. They walked into Elsa’s room unexpectedly, thrusting the door open without knocking, and saw a sight that would “scar them forever,” or so her mother had shrieked.

Meg was up in a flash, grabbing her things and shooting out of the room like a lightning bolt, leaving Elsa alone to fend off her parents, who were screaming in outrage and throwing whatever they got their hands on at her, calling her every bad name in the book. She wasn’t able to get one word in and barely managed to get completely dressed as they ran her out.

“I waited outside the house for two days without eating, sleeping on the cold, uncomfortable ground late at night. I was hoping they’d get over it quickly and let me back in. I was only fourteen years old, after all, and they were my parents, so it was inconceivable to think they would simply abandon me indefinitely for something they blew entirely out of proportion.

“Well,” Elsa went on--- and by that point Anna had left Marshmallow and was now sitting next to Elsa, raptly listening to her story, “what little hope I had was dashed when, on the third day, my father arrived home in his waxed, silver BMW with a pitbull in the backseat.” Elsa could tell before it set foot out of the car it was a vicious animal. It snarled when it set eyes on her, its upper lip curling back to expose sharp canines dripping with saliva. She remembered her father, Mr. Corona, ordering in a calm, detached voice, “Sick her, boy.” And the dog lunged.

Absently Elsa traced the scar on her right arm, one of the places the dog had sank its teeth into. She wasn‘t sure how she made it out of there with all her body parts intact but somehow she did. “So, as you can see, I have a perfectly logical reason for hating my parents guts,” she said forlornly. It hurt though, even after all these years, to know that her parents didn’t love her. She tried contacting them several times through snail mail and each time the letters came back to her unopened, with mean words scrawled across the back flap of the envelope. 

“That’s terrible.” Seeing how depressed Elsa was gave Anna the sudden urge to want to comfort her. She found herself scooting closer to the blond and picked up her left hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Fleetingly it crossed her mind how she’d feel if her parents ever rejected her in a similar fashion. She came to the conclusion that she wouldn’t have been as strong as Elsa, especially at such a young age.

Elsa momentarily lost her voice when Anna touched her and held her hand. Gazing longingly at Anna with soft blue eyes that brimmed with unshed tears, Elsa wanted so badly to tell her how beautiful she was and how happy she made her feel inside. She knew saying those things would only succeed in scaring her off like it usually did, so she accepted the warm gesture mutely. 

“Can you tell me,” Elsa said emotionally, unable to control a lone tear that slipped out, rolling down her cheek and dripping off her chin, “what is so wrong about something so… so amazing and beautiful? Why do most people feel so much hatred and disgust towards same gender couples? It’s not like we’re hurting anyone. Why does it matter who you love? Love is love! Just because I love a female doesn’t make me different. I’m still human; we’re all human. Why can’t people see that?”

“Elsa…” Anna reached up and wiped the wet trail left on Elsa’s skin with the tip of her finger.

With a shuddery breath Elsa let her eyes fall shut. She was only torturing herself doing this, letting Anna come so close and not being able to do anything about it. But she would rather have her around than not have her in her presence at all. It was futile to even think Anna would like her in any way other than as a mere friend.

Even as she was thinking this she felt a pair of arms envelope her, pulling her close. It seemed impossible but it was truly happening: Anna was hugging her, holding her against her bosom and assuring her everything would be alright in a hushed voice. This was enough to halt any tears that threatened to squeeze out. The contact was short, but it was more than enough for Elsa.

Slowly, Anna let go and neither of them spoke--- Elsa, because she was incapable of speech at that precise moment due to the shock of what had just occurred; Anna, because, well, just because. Looking at Elsa she was reminded of an adorably sad puppy---she had no idea where that weird thought came from--- and as if she were being controlled by another being, she felt herself leaning forward, tilting her head as she tipped Elsa’s chin up. Her eyes fluttered closed as their lips met, soft and gentle.

Elsa froze and didn’t dare blink or breathe, fearing that if she did so the moment would abruptly come crashing to an end. She would have believed what was happening was nothing more than a dream, part of one of her fantasies, but it felt way too real. She could vividly feel the heat radiating from Anna’s body, the light touch of her lips pressed against her own, so warm and welcoming and growing insistent as Anna pushed closer to her. It was exhilarating and it encouraged Elsa to give in to the heady sensations, but just as she was about to do just that it was all over in a heartbeat.

Anna’s hot breath washed over her face in a rush as their lips parted and without warning she jerked around and elbowed Elsa in the stomach hard, causing the blond to double over, gasping for breath. Anna leapt to her feet and retreated to the barn door, the sound of her heart thundering in her ear as she watched Elsa curl up on the floor clutching her stomach, groaning in discomfort. “You had no right!” she said angrily. “How dare you…” She trailed off and then deftly spun on her heels, storming off and out of the stable.

Elsa lay on the ground, a piece of hay tickling her nose. She brushed it aside weakly, pushing herself into a sitting position, perplexed and wondering what had just happened.


	6. Conceal, Don't Feel

“Oh, my god,” Anna chanted as she sprinted away from the barn as fast as her legs could carry her, her little heart speeding erratically inside her chest.

What was that? What the HELL was that?

Barely making it halfway across the yard, she was forced to come to a stop in order to catch her breath. Bending over with her hands resting on the tops of her thighs, her chest heaved as she sucked in large gulps of air and cursed herself for being so pathetically out of shape... She really shouldn’t have skipped gym class when she was in school.

Aside from her loud panting and wheezing and an occasional chirp from a random bird perched in a tree nearby, it was strangely quiet outside. Anna half expected to hear Elsa calling her name or come chasing after her but when she glanced over her shoulder there was no sign of the blond. At first she was relieved about that, but then an enormous feeling of guilt rushed through her as she pictured Elsa still on the ground, clutching herself due to the tremendous amount of pain she was suffering... 

Anna convinced herself she didn’t hit Elsa that hard. After all, she barely tapped the other girl with her elbow, right?

Chewing nervously on her thumb nail, she hesitantly thought about turning back and apologizing to Elsa. She had no idea why she did what she did--- punching Elsa the way she had. It was a reflexive action, really. But instead of turning back, Anna surged forward.

She was so confused! That whole moment back in the barn was a massively huge question mark for her. She couldn’t quite figure out what came over her, what possessed her to do such a thing--- and this time she wasn’t thinking about the jabbing incident. Anna touched her fingers to her distractingly tingling lips, the feel and taste of Elsa that lingered there making her head spin crazily… It was so bad that Anna literally experienced a falling sensation just thinking about what happened and had to hug the nearest tree to steady herself.

Don’t think about it! Anna shook her head vigorously as if the action would free her of the mind-boggling event. The first thing she needed to do when she got back to the mansion was to gurgle some extra strong mouthwash to get rid of that dizzying aftertaste…

Lightly jogging the rest of the way to her house, Anna stumbled up the porch steps and entered. Instead of heading straight to the bathroom like she planned she situated herself in a crouched position by the large picture window where she waited, vigilantly watching the outside world. 

Five minutes crawled by before Elsa finally made an appearance, trudging towards her Mustang dejectedly, one arm crossed over her stomach while the hand attached to her other arm was crammed deep into a front pocket. She went around the front of her car to get to the driver’s side and looked up at the house as she unlocked the door and opened it. Anna shrunk down farther to avoid being spotted, her fingers digging into the edge of the window sill. She could visibly see Elsa sigh heavily, her shoulders lifting high and falling low, before she disappeared inside the vehicle. Elsa drove away, and as soon as her car was out of view Anna finally released the air she was holding in.

“Miss.” Anna jumped like a startled cat when Benjamin addressed her.

Standing abruptly, Anna glared at the butler and scolded brashly, “What is wrong with you? Are you trying to give me a heart attack!? You don’t sneak up on people like that, Benjamin!”

“Sorry, Miss. I thought you heard me approaching. Are you alright?” the butler asked, holding a silver tray in his hands. Drinks and sandwiches were lined neatly on top. Anna didn’t think much of it and figured Hans had a few of his friends over. 

“Yes! Of course I’m alright! Do I not look alright to you?” she snapped indignantly.

“Actually, Miss, your face looks flushed and you’re breathing really fast,” he pointed out.

She felt herself grow warmer at Benjamin’s close scrutiny. Her throat closed up and she took one of the glasses on the tray, drinking the cool liquid inside. Anna wiped away the flecks of moisture sticking to her upper lip with the back of her hand and placed the empty glass back on the tray, giving Benjamin a mean look. “I assure you, I’m fine,” she informed him coolly, and with that she marched up the stairs.

She was almost halfway up them when she was stopped by the butler’s next inquiry. “Is your friend still here? Will she be joining you and the others?”

Anna turned slowly. “What ‘others’ are you talking about, Benjamin? And no, Elsa…she, uh, no. She isn’t coming.”

Before the butler could respond to her question Anna heard a flurry of giggling coming from her room. She skipped up the rest of the steps, and as she approached her closed bedroom door she heard very familiar voices.

“It’s no wonder she’s a lesbian. Her room is seriously lacking hunky men!”

“Oh my god, I know! It’s so disturbing!”

Anna barged unceremoniously into her room to find the three buffoons--- Jasmine, Belle, and Ariel--- making themselves quite at home. Jasmine was sprawled out on her bed, twirling thick strands of her black hair around her index finger, leafing through fashion magazines while Belle and Ariel were busy cluttering up her normally bare walls with pictures of sweaty, shirtless men with six packs... 

All three of them stopped what they were doing and looked up eagerly to see who entered. When they saw it was only Anna and not Benjamin with their refreshments they went back to their tasks.

“Isn’t it illegal to like the same gender?” Jasmine asked passively, doing a double take in Anna‘s direction. She sniffed a perfume ad and was sent into a sneezing fit. The other two were on her instantly, asking her if she was okay and what was wrong and if she was dying, which Jasmine replied with, “I’m okay. I think I’m allergic to that dumb cat.” She threw her thumb in Trixie‘s direction. The cat was comfortably resting on Anna’s pillows and meowed when everyone looked at her. She got up and stretched lazily, thrusting her feline butt in the air before plopping back down again.

For a brief, panicky moment Anna feared they had seen Elsa and were aware of what had taken place in the barn… but she then decided they couldn’t have seen anything because if they had they wouldn’t have been talking about it so casually. Anna said sharply to Jasmine, “First of all, if you were allergic to my cat you would be sneezing like crazy--- and I mean nonstop, not for one minute, you twit. Second, and most importantly of all, I am NOT… a lesbian,” Anna finished lamely, sounding almost uncertain. 

No, she most certainly was not a lesbian and it wasn’t something that needed to be said because the answer was obvious and clear as day… 

Oh, really? Then what was that back in the barn? her brain taunted at her. She strained to think, trying to remember what exactly had happened that triggered the kiss--- if it could even be called that. 

Surely Elsa had initiated it? Her lesbian powers had to have been hard at work… Elsa took advantage and used them to smother Anna with guilt, which infected her with the resulting strange and uncontrollable urge to want to kiss her. Yes, that had to be the answer because she never would have done so willingly and the kiss totally did not in any way shape or form make her feel delicious things...

Delicious!? Oh, what absolute insaneness was she thinking? Stop, stop, stop! Anna silently berated herself. Abort this train of thought right now and focus on anything Elsa… 

ELSE! Anna delivered a solid smack to the side of her head. The blow was so hard it made her eardrums ring. Channeling all her energy into boiling anger, Anna stalked to the nearest wall and tore down the handful of half-naked men posted up on it. She then did the same to the remaining walls until all of the pictures were gathered in her hands and she furiously smashed them into a giant ball. Hurling the crumpled mess to the ground, she stomped on it for good measure before whirling on the girls with her hands attached to her hips. “What in the world are you people doing here?” she fumed.

Perusing through a magazine, Belle paused to admire a page featuring a particularly handsome beastly stud of a man with luscious curly chest hair. “We’re trying to ungay you,” she said simply, carefully detaching the paper to avoid marring the sexy man’s gorgeous bod and attaching tape to all four corners of the page to hang it up on the wall. The other two girls bobbed their heads in silent agreement to Belle‘s response. 

Anna studiously avoided the statement and wrenched the page from Belle’s hands before she could paste it on her wall. The redhead then ripped the picture in half, eliciting a gasp of horror from the brunette. “Why the hell are you here?” Anna asked again, her voice shaking as she fought to remain calm.

“Oh my gosh. That was uncalled for.” Belle huffed unhappily, crossing her arms and fixing her eyes on the torn remains as Anna let them fall listlessly to the floor. Her chin trembled and she sniffled, hugging herself. “He didn’t deserve that,” she sulked, looking as if she were ready to bawl any second.

“Yeah, like really. Was that necessary? You totally need to chill, like, a lot, Anna,” Ariel piped up, joining Belle‘s side and comforting her by patting her back.

Jasmine snapped her magazine closed and said, “And for your information, Hans asked us to come over.”

“Hans,” Anna said dryly. “Okay. Great. Then if Hans invited you, would you mind telling me why you’re in my room?”

“Be serious, Anna. Your brother is mad ugly. A rotten pineapple is cuter than him,” Ariel said in disgust.

“He’s got the hots for us, hello. If we hang out with him he’ll get the wrong idea,” Jasmine chimed in.

Anna snorted and barked out a laugh. “Oh, and I wouldn’t?” she said sarcastically.

Sulking, still offended by Anna’s vicious attack on her dream-man, Belle whined, “Why are you being so hostile?”

Jasmine heaved a sigh. “Don’t tell me you’re still upset about the other day. Look, Anna, we didn’t know what we were saying. We had a little too much to drink---”

“What are you talking about? ‘Too much to drink’?” Anna interrupted. “You’re acting as if you guys were drunk!” It was unbelievable how thick they were! And she used to consider them friends? Tired of their idiocy, Anna yanked the magazines from them and threw them across the room where they hit the wall with a splat, dropping to the floor, the glossy pages splayed open. “News flash: you can’t get drunk off coffee--- and I don’t want to hear what your uncle Scuttle told you, Ariel!” Anna snapped when Ariel raised a finger and dared to open her mouth to spew whatever false filth she deemed important to share. 

Flinging their jackets at them, Anna ordered them out just as Benjamin arrived with the tray of food. “I don’t want you guys coming around anymore, do you hear me?”

As they shuffled out in single file, scoffing and flipping their hair conceitedly, Hans appeared in the doorframe. “Benjamin! There you are.” He helped himself to a sandwich and spotted Anna. “Oh. Anna,” he said unenthusiastically. “Mother wants to see you immediately.”

What now? She groaned tiredly. Why couldn’t she be left alone to think things over in peace?

\------------------------------------------

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Anna said petulantly, sitting in a chair across from her mother, who patiently sipped a glass of wine with a prominent pinkie sticking out. “You want me to go out to dinner with a guy ten years older than me with the name,”---she scrunched her face up--- “Weselton?”

Idunn cleared her throat. “He is the son of Marian Duke, who happens to be a very good friend of mine, Anna. It turns out that Weselton is a well respected business man and he blah blah blah….”

Anna shut her mother’s voice out. She didn’t even pretend to listen. It was always the same old, same old. Yet again she was being set up on another lousy date, this time with a twenty nine year old man named Weselton Duke. She hated it when her mother did this! And the worst thing about it was there was nothing she could do to get out of it. Whether she liked it or not, she had no choice but to go. She glared at Idunn but her mother didn’t notice or didn‘t care, she just kept on blabbering away.

“I think Weselton is the one for you, sweetheart.” Idunn finished her glass of wine and Benjamin appeared a second later to refill it. The older woman looked really hard at her daughter. “Most boys your age these days are immature and have a disturbing sense of humor. Mrs. Duke’s son is mature---”

Anna yawned, loudly. She couldn’t help it. “That’s really great, Mother. I’m so excited,” she said, not sounding the least bit enthused. “I can’t wait to meet him. When is it scheduled?” She knew if she didn’t get right to the point she would be sitting there for a long time while her mother droned on and on about how sickeningly great Weselton was for her.

Once her mother told her the vital information, she excused herself and retired to her room.


	7. Love is a Fairytale

“Ooh!” Anna woke up abruptly, her eyes shooting open wide before slamming shut again as her sweaty body convulsed, an orgasm surging through her courtesy of the hand that was clamped firmly between surprisingly slick thighs. 

Crashing back down hard onto the bed, her breaths coming out in spastic bursts, Anna removed the frisky extremity from within her sore depths, releasing a strained hiss at its sudden absence. She was thoroughly exhausted and felt as if she had just finished an insanely strenuous workout, which told her she must have been going at it for quite a while…and she hadn’t been aware of it.

“Damn,” she said with a groan, rolling onto her side. Anna wiped her wet hand on her bedspread and then buried her face in her pillow, gripping it tightly as she attempted to calm her wildly racing heart while at the same time trying to make sense of such an unexpected wake up call… Such a thing had never happened to her before in her sleep! Not that she was complaining about it. It was certainly far from unpleasant. But what caused it?

Anna figured the reason behind her impromptu self-loving had something to do with the dream she had been experiencing before she woke up, though she couldn’t recall too much of the details. She wracked her brain, gathering up enough blurry bits and pieces to give her an idea. 

She remembered hands ghosting along her body, how seemingly electrifying fingers touched her in all the right places and how the dream her had greedily arched to meet every one of those expert touches, every lingering kiss. She recalled piercing blue eyes and hearing a svelte and distinctly feminine voice whispering encouraging words that drove her excitement higher and higher and…

Anna sucked in a giant mouthful of air as the fuzzy recollection made her pulse quicken and the dimming embers at her core rekindled tremendously.

Uttering a curse, Anna pushed herself off the bed. She needed to take a shower… a very ice cold one. Swiping her fingers through damp, tangled bangs as she hurried to her closet, the digits got trapped in the explosion of poofy hair on her head and she had to painstakingly entangle herself free but got too frustrated and yanked her hand out impatiently, tearing a few strands loose in the process. 

Grumbling incoherently under her breath, Anna gathered a change of fresh under things and other necessities needed for her shower and slung them over her shoulder. She stomped to her door and opened it, stepping out and smacking straight into her brother Hans.

“Ah, the wild beast makes an appearance,” Hans commented with a stupid crooked smirk.

Anna scowled. She was so not in the mood to deal with his crap so early in the--- she checked her watch to take note of the time--- afternoon… “What are you doing creeping around in front of my room?” she asked tightly.

“I was concerned for my dear little sister’s well-being,” Hans said, adopting a worried tone and making a show of pouting, as if he was truly hurt that she would question his supportive presence. “I thought you were in a great deal of pain considering all the moaning I heard coming from your room.” The color drained from Anna’s face and he leered at her crudely. “Were you imagining Weselton’s thick, juicy sausage inside you?”

Her stomach lurched at the nasty image that popped unbidden to her head and the urge to let it go and projectile vomit on her brother was very strong. It took a great deal of strength and restraint to avoid that scenario. “You’re a freaking disgusting pervert,” she snapped distastefully, shouldering her way past him.

As she stormed down the hall to the bathroom, Hans’s irritating voice followed her as he simulated girly moaning sounds. She slammed the bathroom door closed behind her so hard that something in the hall outside fell and shattered.

\-----------------------------------------

Even before Weselton’s immaculate black Rolls-Royce crawled up the circular driveway, slow as a snail, Anna knew her day would end in disaster. How could it end otherwise when she was about to date a man who possessed a dorky name and was ten years older than her?

Her mother had shown her a picture of him standing ramrod straight as if he had a stick jammed up his butt, and Anna didn‘t rule it out as a real possibility. From what she could make out in the photo, Weselton was remarkably puny, with limbs that rivaled a chicken’s, and he looked to be much older than the twenty nine years she was told. His hair was grandfather-white and he had bushy caterpillar eyebrows that were turned down, giving him a mean, unpleasant look and his nose was long and pointed, reminding Anna of a bird’s beak. He was definitely not a pretty or handsome man…

Idunn didn’t think his looks were important. The point was he knew how to handle his money and invested it smartly. “He’d do a wonderful job looking after the money you’ll be receiving on your twenty-first birthday when you get married, Anna,” she cooed, standing behind Anna as they waited in the living room, poking and prodding her hair, curling unruly strands with her fingers. Apparently she thought they would make a lovely couple.

Anna wanted to gag. She ducked away from her mother’s clutches, patting her hair back the way it was. She eyeballed Idunn as if she’d gone bat-shit crazy. Clearly she must have because who in their right mind planned a wedding for two people who never even met each other before? “Mother, I’d die first before marrying that man.”

“Oh…dear. Don’t talk like that, honey. Don’t say such a dreadful thing.”

“What?” Anna said a little snappily. “I’m serious!” She angrily scratched at an itch on her leg. “I hate when you do this to me, I really do. I’m old enough to decide who I want to go out with--- aren’t I? I’m nineteen! It’s my decision and right to decide who I get to marry! And besides, I don‘t believe in getting married unless it‘s true love!”

Mrs. Arendelle tsked with disapproval. “Really, Anna? What nonsense are you speaking? Honestly, what do you know about true love?”

A glimpse of sure, blue eyes flashed in her head and Anna stared down at her hands, bending and twisting her fingers. “I… Well, I don’t,” she admitted. “But… but doesn’t the thought of it mean anything to you?”

“Honey, you’re young, but you should be smart enough not to believe in such a farce! There’s no such thing as true love, never mind love in general. It’s nothing more than a fairy tale and exists for entertainment purposes only,” Idunn said matter of factly. 

“What?” Anna couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mother’s mouth. “You didn’t marry Father out of love?” she asked in disbelief.

Laughing daintily, Idunn shook her head. “Of course not! What a silly notion! Our union had nothing to do with such childish foolishness. We married for convenience.” And before the conversation could continue further, Idunn gasped. “Ooh. He’s here!” she said gleefully.

Now would be a good time to come down with a case of explosive diarrhea, Anna thought morosely as she turned her attention out the window to the expensive car making its way to the front of the mansion.

It was the chauffeur who came up the steps to fetch her, and Anna’s resentment towards the man she never met deepened. Really, how hard was it to get out of the car, walk several feet to the door and knock? She left without saying good-bye to her mother, who lovingly wished her a good time.

Yes, I’ll have a good time, Anna thought darkly. A good time in hell…

Anna walked stiffly to the Rolls and the driver opened the back door for her. She didn’t bother thanking him and went in, ducking to avoid hitting her head against the top of the vehicle. She sat in the seat across from a man who she automatically recognized as Weselton. He looked the same as he did in the photograph, only now he had a ridiculous mustache and a pair of large black rimmed glasses balanced on his giant nose. He wore a sullen expression and said nothing to her, not even a hello. He barely glanced at her, and when he did speak it was to instruct the driver where to take them. Then he sat back, folding a newspaper open and absorbing the contents on the page.

It was almost as if Anna wasn’t there at all, and that ticked her off. Regardless of whose company she was in, she would have liked to be acknowledged when in someone’s presence. Being ignored was infuriating, and Anna openly glared daggers at Weselton on the way to the restaurant they were being driven to.

He didn’t notice.

\-------------------------------

Weselton took big strides when he walked and if anyone were to look at him they’d probably think he was in a hurry to get to an important meeting when in reality he was just going to a normal, inexpensive restaurant. Anna had to walk double-time to keep up with him, grumbling the whole way. Never again would she allow herself to be dragged into a situation like this.

The restaurant was bustling with people when they walked in. It was very busy and all the tables were occupied at the moment except for one off to a corner, which had a reserve sign on top. Weselton headed towards it and Anna followed, albeit reluctantly.

Why do I do this to myself? she thought gloomily, slowing her pace so she was walking normally. Why don’t I ever say no? If she had said no to her mother she wouldn’t be here and she certainly would have never gone out with those other boys Idunn set her up with.

And if she had said no to Elsa…

Weselton was already seated by the time Anna reached the table. He straightened his tie and picked up a menu, looking it over with serious intent. She took her own menu and ran her eyes down the list. She thought she had no appetite but her stomach churned and gurgled loudly, telling her she needed some form of sustenance. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t eaten a thing the whole day, too busy wallowing in her misery. Across from her, Weselton placed his menu back where he found it and neatly folded his hands together on the table in front of him, waiting.

“The lobster sounds quite good,” he said, the first words he actually spoke to her.

She grimaced. “Maybe to you.” She disliked seafood of any kind. Just the thought of eating things that used to be in the sea made her feel sick. There had been one time where she did take a risk and ate lobster and she suffered for that. It literally made her sick for an entire week. She had to stay in bed and kept barfing every five minutes. It felt like every five minutes to her, but Marisol, the one unfortunate enough to clean up the seemingly endless stream of vomit, told her that was not so.

It was quiet at their table, neither of them speaking again. Anna wondered if this was how the whole date would turn out to be like. If so, that was fine with her. The less said between them the better.

She was still perusing the menu when she felt another presence. Anna saw the legs in skin-colored pantyhose at the corner of her eye and for some unexplainable reason it drew her attention. Her eyes drifted off the menu and down to fully take in the shapely legs in her view and she followed them up and nearly gasped in shock. The menu flew out of her hands, sailing across the table where it slid off the edge and landed in Weselton’s lap.

“Are you ready to order?” Elsa asked in a cheerful voice, a pad in hand and her pen poised over it, ready to take their orders.

It took a while for Anna to process what she was seeing: Elsa in a white waitress uniform---and a uniform that happened to have a skirt. She was flabbergasted. Just the other day Elsa had told her she hated wearing them and here she was with one on. 

But even more bizarre than the fact that she was wearing a skirt was the way she was looking at Anna. Elsa didn’t look angry or distressed at the sight of her. She was positively beaming and it wasn’t forced or fake. It was a genuine smile, like she was really happy to see Anna. The copper-haired girl couldn’t fathom why, especially considering how their last meeting ended.

Elsa’s eyes gleamed with amusement as they flitted from Weselton to Anna, and Anna felt the blood heat up her face, embarrassed at being seen with such an unattractive man. To hide her face she grabbed the menu Weselton had been looking at and pretended to concentrate on what to get.

“Yes,” Weselton answered Elsa’s question, politely clearing his throat. “We would like two lobsters stuffed with broiled broccoli, rice and cheese, please. Oh, and your cheapest, finest wine. Cheapest,” he repeated with emphasis.

“Okay.” Elsa quickly scribbled it down. “Wine and two stuffed lobster dinners.” She paused and cast a glance in Anna’s direction, cocking her head questioningly. “Is that right?”

Anna jerked her head back from the menu and looked at Weselton. “Wait… what? No!” She made a disgusted face. “God…no. I don’t like lobster. It made me sick last time I had it.”

“That’s probably because they didn’t prepare it properly,” he commented curtly.

Elsa crossed out the two she wrote and put a one over it. “What can I get you?” she asked Anna.

“I don’t know,” Anna said feebly. “I don’t really care, honestly, as long as it’s not fish of any kind…”

“Or spaghetti,” Elsa added. Anna smiled at that, unable to control it. She hastily wiped it away, her gaze falling to the table.

Weselton proclaimed emphatically, “I already said what we wanted.” He rose to his feet, both hands pressed firmly on the table, trying to look intimidating and failing hard because of how short he was compared to Elsa. “My women eat what I tell them to eat. My women must love lobster. I gave you our orders and I expect you to do your job or else I‘ll complain to whoever‘s in charge of this place.” 

Elsa apologized meekly, “Sorry, sir. Two lobsters it is. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She sauntered away from their table. 

Anna watched her go unhappily. Inside she was seething with rage. Who did this guy think he was telling her what she could and couldn‘t eat? And HIS women? She wasn’t HIS anything!

“We’ll talk when the food arrives,” was all he said before turning in his seat to make a phone call with his mobile. 

Talk? Anna didn’t want to talk. She wanted to go. She had endured quite enough of this man’s presence… But she remained seated and tapped her fingers on top of the table’s surface, studiously observing the people seated around them. At one table there was a couple sharing a piece of delicious looking pie and at another there was a family of three. The kid at the table was causing quite a ruckus, pouring ketchup all over the table and floor. Anna was fascinated by the kid’s actions but she tore her gaze away and craned her neck, trying to spot Elsa. The restaurant was so crowded she couldn’t see anything.

And then she did spot her. Elsa was at another table giving a group of guys plates heaped with food, smiling coquettishly and laughing, flirting with them. Then she disappeared from view and Anna sat in her chair, completely baffled.

She felt something very unusual while she was watching Elsa with those boys. It was a twinge of…jealousy. 

Abruptly she jumped to her feet, mumbling something about having to go to the bathroom. Once she was within the walls of the bathroom she splashed her face with cold water, almost dunking her head under the faucet to soak her head entirely but stopping herself before she did so. She dried off with a paper towel, staring at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. “Jeez,” she murmured, furiously rubbing her eyes. She dropped the wet towel into the garbage bin and leaned her back against the sink, biting down hard on the knuckles of one hand.

Her? Jealous? Just because Elsa was being friendly with some random guys? It was absurd! Of course she wasn’t jealous! Why would she be jealous? It was such a ridiculous thought… Anna yelped in pain and shook her hand. Her knuckles were red and had deep teeth marks in them. Luckily she hadn’t broken the skin.

Two girls, a blond and a brunette, walked in, chatting up a storm. They went to an unoccupied sink and dug in their purses for their makeup to touch up their faces.

“Did you see that guy with the spiky hair? My gosh, wasn’t he cute?” the brunette gushed, dabbing on some blush.

“No. Not as cute as the one next to him,” the blond said, drenching herself with a strong-smelling perfume. She noticed Anna and a look of concern spread to her face. “Are you alright?” she asked. “You don’t look so hot.”

Funny, Anna thought, how complete strangers are more worried about my welfare than the people who are supposed to be my friends. It was so sad but at the same time laughable. She shook her head and, kneading her forehead, she said wearily, “No. No, I’m not okay.”

“Oh.” The brown-haired girl searched through her purse and found a bottle of ibuprofen. She twisted the cap to open it and plucked two tablets out, giving them to Anna. “There you go.” She closed the bottle and returned it to her purse, snapping it closed and swinging it over her shoulder. Her friend did the same with her own. “I hope you feel better,” she said, sounding very sincere, and she and her friend walked out, leaving Anna to ponder quietly to herself.

She rolled the pink pills around the palm of her hand. She wouldn’t take them because she didn’t need them. What she was feeling could not be cured by medicine. Anna went to throw them out but thought better of it. She wrapped them in a paper towel and put them in her pocket in case she needed them later on.

Back at the table Anna was antsy, constantly moving around in her seat. To keep her hands busy she grabbed her maroon-colored cloth napkin and folded it until she could fold it no more. The drinks arrived, and although she wasn’t a fan of wine she drank it anyway. She yearned for a Shirley Temple. As she sipped her drink she tracked Elsa with her eyes. Her heart did a somersault when she saw her heading towards their table with two plates balanced expertly on her hands.

“Here you go.” Elsa set the plates down in front of them. 

Anna’s stomach leaped happily at the absence of lobster on her plate and she smiled gratefully, relieved at the sight of golden-brown chicken strips and fresh salad that graced her eyeballs. Her mouth watered expectantly and she reached for her utensil to dig in but Weselton grunted and shot his hand out, knocking hers away.

Loudly he said, “Excuse me!” Elsa had started to move away to see to some other customers but stopped and half turned at his sudden outburst. “That’s not what I ordered,” Weselton said rudely. 

“You ordered lobster, correct?”

“Yes---”

“So what’s the problem?” the blond put her hands on her hips, and raised a questioning eyebrow.

“What,” he growled, “may I ask, is that?” He stabbed a finger at Anna’s plate.

“Chicken tenders and a Caesar salad,” Elsa stated breezily.

“That’s not what I ordered,” he repeated.

“I know that,” Elsa said slowly, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “You ordered lobster.”

“I ordered two,” he griped.

Patiently and calmly Elsa said, “I highly doubt you’d be able to eat two of them, sir. And anyway, we’re fresh out of lobster, believe it or not. That one there in front of you was the last one. If you don’t believe me you could ask the chef, but I advise against it. We’re really busy at the moment and he’d get mad if he were interrupted from his work.” He gaped at her and she beamed at him. To Anna she said, “Enjoy your meal.” With a wink she sashayed away.

Anna ate her food, munching on the crispy fingers. They were delicious and well prepared. She was so thankful that Elsa worked there, otherwise she would have been forced to eat horrid lobster, which she wouldn’t have eaten at all, which meant she would have left the restaurant the same way she entered: famished.

While she was trying to enjoy her meal, Weselton decided to unfortunately open his gob and talk. She barely listened to what he was saying and, oddly, was only interested in what Elsa was doing, her eyes locked on the waitress’s every move. Several times she had to pretend she was looking elsewhere when Elsa occasionally turned her way. Anna didn’t want her to think she was spying on her, after all. She focused on her salad at one point and reluctantly tuned in to what Weselton was saying.

“… wedding. You’ll wear the dress my mother wore when she married my step-father, but we have to see if it fits you. You’ll probably have to lose a few pounds first. If that doesn’t work out your mother could perhaps lend you hers. And if worse comes to worse we’ll just have to find something ourselves. I’d prefer not to spend a cent on a wedding dress though. It’s a waste of money. You’ll only wear it once and then it’ll rot in the closet to serve as a breeding ground for moths.” He paused to shovel food into his mouth before continuing.

“The ceremony will take place…”

She gave him a blank look, utterly speechless. Was he seriously talking about marriage? Did her mother put the idea in his head or did they both think of it on their own? It was a strange coincidence. Either way she knew for certain there wouldn’t be a wedding. Being forced to go on dates was one thing, but marriage was something else entirely. She really would rather die before saying “I do” to this man.

“We’ll be living in my mansion, of course. Which reminds me… your mother mentioned you have a cat. It will have to go. I don’t allow animals of any kind in my house. They’re dirty, destructive, vile creatures and they are a huge waste of money. By the way, you’ll need to spend your money sparingly, and to make sure you never go bankrupt or in debt I’ll look after it religiously. Money is important and it won’t do you any good if you spend it on thousands of shoes, purses, and other junk that you’ll never wear…”

He babbled on and on, slowly but surely driving her nuts with his incessant rambling. She dropped her fork with a chicken tender speared on the tines. It made a loud clatter as it struck the glass plate, successfully silencing Weselton long enough for her to get a few words in.

“I don’t know why you’re discussing marriage like it‘s going to happen between us. You must be out of your mind if you think I’m remotely interested in you. For one thing you don’t know anything about me.” She smirked. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t even know my name.

“Another thing is you’re old… looking, and so not the type of person I’m into. Plus, you ignored me from the moment I set foot in your vehicle. You didn’t look at me or say one word! And clearly you’re only concerned about money.” Anna snorted. “No wonder you can‘t get a girl.”

His eyes were narrowed into tiny slits. His face, normally quite pale, was a dark shade of red. He spluttered, spittle spilling out from between his lips and falling into his glass of wine with audible plops. Eventually he managed to spit out some actual words. “For your information, I’m a very distinguished man. Women love me for who I am on the inside.”

“The only thing anyone loves about you is your money,” she retorted. 

In one smooth motion he pushed back his chair, wiping his mouth and hands at the same time with his napkin and dropping it on his dinner. A revolting purple vein on his forehead throbbed and Anna could only stare at it, repulsed. “You’re such a… cow!” he said insultingly, and with that, he marched out of the restaurant, leaving Anna at the table alone. 

Good riddance, Anna wanted to shout. She was very glad he was finally gone. That is, until she realized he left without paying for dinner. What a cheapskate, she thought with an annoyed sigh, reaching for her purse. She would be able to pay it off herself but she thought it was rude of him doing what he did. Going out to dinner wasn’t her idea, and she was miserable throughout it all. The least he could have done was pay for his stupid lobster meal.

Anna blindly felt around for her purse but her hand touched nothing but empty air. She physically looked at the space her purse should have been occupying and saw no sign of it so she checked her shoulder, groping for the strap, thinking it might have been hanging by her side and she just forgot about it. But it wasn’t there either so she ducked her head to check the floor, assuming it had fallen.

She didn’t see it.

She banged her head against the edge of the table when she sat up, disrupting the dishware on top with a clatter. Her body grew cold when it dawned on her that her purse was MIA. She thought momentarily that she might have possibly left it in the bathroom, but she was positive she didn’t have it with her when she went in there. Now that she thought about it, the last time she saw it was at home….

“Oh no,” she groaned, swearing softly under her breath. How could she have forgotten to take her purse with her? What was she going to do now?


	8. A Saucy Intervention

Anna turned her pockets inside out, hoping to magically find some misplaced cash tucked away in their depths and unearthed what probably amounted to a very expensive ball of lint considering how costly her pants were. She flicked the useless lint ball away and dropped her head in her hands in defeat.

For once in her life Anna was broke. She never, ever left home without some form of payment at her disposal so such a circumstance had never happened to her before… If she couldn’t pay for the dinner, what would they do to her? Would they make her wash dishes? She never washed a dish in her life! She’d probably do it wrong and then they’d send her to jail. Dread housed deep in her chest and hot tears simmered behind her eyes at the terrifying thought of being locked up with vile criminals. 

Oh, don’t cry, she willed herself. Her day was going bad as it was, the last thing she needed was to cause a scene and make a blubbering fool of herself in front of a crowded restaurant. To prevent such a scene from taking place, she burrowed her face in her arms and concentrated solely on breathing in and out to gather her composure.

“Anna?”

The soft and oh so familiar voice trampled what little calmness Anna managed to scavenge up and amplified the strong urge to bawl her eyes out. Fighting to keep the biting tears reigned in, she clamped her teeth down on her tongue hard enough to taste blood and floundered for her cloth napkin. Her fingers made contact with the fabric and she snatched it up and blanketed it flat over her head in a pathetic attempt to hide.

“Anna.” Looking on with a mixture of concern and amusement, Elsa stood in front of the table holding a full pitcher of water she was in the process of transporting to one of her other customers. Concern because it was clear something was bothering the other girl, and amusement because of the interesting placement of her napkin. “What’s the matter?”

“I doph hmph any moony,” was the muffled answer.

“I’m sorry? What was that?” Elsa stooped forward and cupped a hand behind her ear to hear her better over the loud chatter of dining patrons.

“I…” Keeping her head down but raising her voice slightly, Anna repeated lamely, “I don’t have any money.”

The blonde’s eyebrows shot up at the admission and her mouth slowly curved into a smile. Chortling, Elsa put a hand on her hip and said wryly, “Oh, the irony.” There in front of her sat the richest girl in town and she didn’t have a single cent on her person. It was absolutely priceless and impossible not to laugh at.

“It’s not funny,” Anna whined pitifully, peeking out from under her flimsy protection to shoot the waitress a menacing glare.

Snickering, Elsa vigilantly scanned the perimeter for Anna’s noticeably absent date. Seeing no sign of him anywhere, she cocked her head and asked slyly, “Where’s your boyfriend?”

“He‘s not my boyfriend!” Anna flared shakily, ripping the napkin off her head and letting it fall to the table. Clutching the sides of her head, digging her fingernails into her scalp, she said, “He walked out…”

“Wait, he just left you?” Anna’s head bobbed an affirmative and Elsa clucked her tongue and wagged her head, feigning disappointment. “Well, that’s a real shame! He was really cute, honestly! And I have to say, you two looked so happy together! A match made in heaven, for sure!” Elsa gushed dreamily, resting her free hand to her cheek. “Or so I thought… but I guess he’s not accustomed to your undeniably dazzling warmth and charm,” she quipped.

Fully expecting to receive the trademark glower she was so familiar with in exchange for her joking comments, Elsa was not the least bit prepared when Anna’s posture deflated even more and the younger girl released a loud sucking gasp, closely followed by a choked sob, completely shattering to pieces right in front of her. 

“Hey!” The waitress’s smile abandoned her quickly and she carefully set the pitcher on the table after it almost slipped out of her hand. “What’s with the waterworks?” she asked in alarm, stepping forward as if to go to Anna and hesitating. Her natural instincts told her to soothe the upset girl, and she itched to do just that, but her recent experience with the unpredictable redhead told her that probably wasn’t a good idea. Fidgeting indecisively, Elsa settled with sliding into Weselton’s vacant seat directly across from Anna. Pushing his glass of wine and unfinished lobster dinner to the far side of the table to give her elbow space, she folded her arms and worriedly watched the crying girl, trying to make sense of what triggered the emotional outburst and unsure of how to proceed on diffusing it. 

Was she seriously that upset about not having any money? Elsa wondered. The display seemed too intense and dramatic to be over something as insignificant as money, but she didn‘t believe the tears had anything to do with her silly remarks either. She’d teased Anna quite often the few times they hung out together and the girl never once reacted in such a way.

Sticking with the lack of money being the main cause, Elsa said, “Listen, it’s not the end of the world!” She dipped a hand into her skirt pocket where she kept all her tips and pulled out a wad of cash. Thumbing through the various bills, she added in her head the total of the dinner and plucked the proper amount out, putting it on the table and pushing it towards Anna. “Don’t worry about the meal. I’ll take care of it.”

To Elsa’s astonishment and utter confusion, Anna thrashed her head from side to side and shoved the money right back at her, blatantly refusing the generous offer. 

The owner of the restaurant and Elsa’s manager, Oaken, a red-headed robust man sporting a bright red nose and plump, rosy cheeks, heard the commotion and sauntered over to the table with a plate of spaghetti perched on an upraised hand. “Hoo hoo! There is a problem, yes?” he said, directing his words at Anna.

Gibberish spewed from Anna’s mouth and her hands fluttered about as she gestured crazily, occasionally jerking pointedly in Elsa’s direction.

Oaken peered down at the incoherent redhead with curious interest and then narrowed his eyes at Elsa, who shrugged helplessly and flashed an uneasy smile to convey how utterly clueless she was on why a customer in her charge had suddenly sprung a leak. The man interpreted her smile differently and frowned disapprovingly. Waving a thick finger at her, he chided, “Elsie, what have I told you about mixing personal business with work? Whatever you’ve done to upset your girlfriend, please kiss and make up so we can avoid any further unpleasantness and you can get back to serving hungry, expectant customers, yes?”

“What? Oh, but she’s not… my girlfriend,” Elsa protested weakly. 

Anna’s shoulders heaved violently as a tremendous sob wracked through her.

“No?” Oaken appeared doubtful. “So then what might the problem be? Has your dining experience at Oaken’s been unsatisfactory, miss? That’s no good… Allow me to offer you a free plate of spaghetti made with a special sauce of my own invention!” He presented the plate to the weeping girl, beaming proudly.

While everyone at the table had their attention on the spaghetti, a kid wielding yellow and red condiment containers snuck up behind Oaken. Cackling like a deranged maniac, he shoved the nozzles down the back of the manager’s pants and squeezed the bottles with small fists, allowing the colorful substances inside to gush out and fill the man‘s backend. Oaken yelled in shock and his arms flew up, sending the plate laden with spaghetti and an abundance of sauce somersaulting high in the air. The contents landed with an audible, sickening splat directly on the distressed girl hunched over the table, covering her thoroughly in pasta and chunky, red tomato goop.

“Oh, my god!” Elsa gasped and jumped to her feet, covering her mouth, her eyes tracking the pasta sauce that dribbled off the girl’s face and grimacing as it plopped disgustingly on the table. “Anna, are you okay?”

The pasta shower momentarily brought Anna’s crying to a grinding halt. Dripping arms splayed open and away from her body, she looked down at the mess of worm-like noodles and sauce pooling around her in wide-eyed disbelief, her mouth bouncing soundlessly as if words were trying to come out. Then her face scrunched up and she made a raspy, wheezing noise that quickly transformed into a wail as new tears burst forth.

Racing to Anna’s side of the table, Elsa reached out and brushed the tips of her fingers against her arm. Anna recoiled and sidled out of reach, plastering herself to the wall as she openly cried, no longer caring about potentially attracting attention from the other patrons in the restaurant. Twin streams ran rampant down her cheeks and her makeup was smudged and beyond ruined.

“Oh dear… That‘s quite unfortunate,” Oaken said tsking, nervously twiddling his fingers, his eyes shifting around the restaurant. “I apologize for this terrible mess that has been caused... To ensure only good feelings, I will give you no bill and your next visit will be free of charge as well, so you can enjoy the entire meal on the house!” He nodded approvingly, satisfied with his solution to the problem and said to Elsa, “Elsie, attend to your girlfriend and get her cleaned up, yes? While you do that,” he said, cracking his knuckles, “I must go deal with the evil gremlin responsible for this heinous crime! Bye, bye!” With a quick wave he departed and stalked over to the table the troublemaking kid and his useless parents were seated at, hollering, “Hoo hoo! Hi, family!”

Kneeling on the seat, Elsa scooted closer to Anna, clamping her hand on her bicep and tugging. “Anna, come on,” she said gently, trying to coax her out. “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”

With a strangled cry, Anna propelled herself at Elsa, encircling the blonde tightly and sagging heavily against her as a flood poured from her eye sockets. The force behind her momentum caused the stunned older girl to teeter precariously and almost fall backwards, but she braced herself and adjusted to the weight thrown at her and kept them in an upright position.

For a moment Elsa stayed motionless while Anna buried her face in her chest and wept her heart out. Raising rigid arms from her sides, she securely wrapped them around the trembling figure and murmured soothing words in an attempt to subdue the poor girl. It seemed to work well enough. The feeble noises Anna had been making turned into nothing more than quiet sniffles and the tension seemed to drain from her body. She didn’t relinquish her strangling hold on Elsa, though, so Elsa awkwardly stood them up and waddled down the aisles, passing the tables of dining customers and dragging her to the employees only bathroom.

Elsa guided her to the sink area and extricated Anna from herself, propping her against the counter. She fetched some rags and paper towels and immediately set to work cleaning the messy girl up, concentrating on scrubbing all visible traces of the red stuff from her skin first before meticulously picking pasta out of her hair.

For the next few minutes it was very quiet aside from the occasional sniffle and the more prevalent splashing of water as Elsa rinsed and squeezed the rags, making sure they were cleared of sauce before using them to continue cleaning the tense redhead. 

During that time, Anna kept her head bowed and her eyes downcast. She sniffled excessively to prevent snot from dripping free from her nose but she wasn‘t having much luck keeping it contained. Absently, she wiped her nose using the sleeve of her shirt since it was the only thing readily usable without her having to move too much. Not realizing there was a juicy red blob staining that one particular location on her sleeve, she smeared quite a bit of sauce on her face. “Ugh,” she groaned, grossed out by the cold wetness.

A light chuckle made her lift her eyes and they collided with striking blue ones. Smiling kindly at her, Elsa delicately dabbed the rag she dampened under the faucet on the newly tainted area, cleansing the red splotch from her face. 

The tenderness of the small action made Anna’s heart clench painfully. Unable to handle the attentive treatment bestowed upon her, she started crying again and shrugged roughly away from Elsa, dashing into the nearest stall. Slamming the swinging door closed and locking it behind her, she fell to the floor by the toilet bowl, hugging herself while she sobbed pathetically.

Anna had never cried so much in her entire life. She was born into a wealthy household and could have just about anything money could buy so she never really had a reason to cry about anything. She always assumed she was happy with what she had … But right then, as she huddled and whimpered beside a toilet, her upper body smelling like someone’s recently discarded dinner, it became perfectly clear to her that her life sucked. 

She heard the shuffling of feet on tiled floor and three steady knocks on the stall door. “Anna?”

The majority of her life was spent pleasing her parents. They chose who her friends were regardless of whether she liked them or got along with them, and she never once thought to argue with them about that.

“Anna, come on. Don‘t cry.” A searching eye peeked through an available crack in the stall to take in her cowering form.

They arranged dates for her with guys they thought were suitable and acceptable for her and she stupidly went on every single one of them despite how miserable she always ended up. Her thoughts, her opinions on these matters weren’t important. Tired of being a pawn, she took a chance and tried to take control of at least that portion of her life… She didn’t actually think she would succeed, but she miraculously found someone. Someone who wanted to know her and accepted her for who she was… someone who cared about her for reasons she could not fathom. 

Rapping her knuckles hard on the door, Elsa begged, sounding desperate, “Will you please come out? I understand you’re upset but the sooner we clean you up, the faster you can get home.”

There was a resounding bang as Anna slammed the palm of her hand into the stall wall, followed by a blubbering shout, “Why are you doing this?”

The loud bang startled Elsa and she jerked back a few steps, rubbing her hands together fretfully. “I’m only trying to help you! You’re wearing pasta,” she pointed out huffily, flailing her arms. “Unless you’re trying to make a new fashion statement, you need to come out so we can get as much of the sauce off of you before it dri---”

“NO!” Anna hauled herself to her feet and clicked the door unlocked, flinging it open and charging out. Chest heaving, she came face to face with the bewildered blonde and stuttered in tearful disbelief, waving a hand between them, “W-why are y-you doing t-this?” Hiccupping, she stated emphatically, stabbing herself in the chest sharply with her index finger, “I’ve been nothing but a total b-bitch to you! You should despise me with a burning passion!”

Elsa regarded her with sympathy and shook her head wanly, stepping forward and circling around the girl to prevent her from escaping back into the stall. Pressing a hand into the small of Anna’s back, she pushed her to the sink and dangled a paper towel in front of her. Anna hesitantly took it from her and proceeded to clean the mess her face had become. 

“I don’t hate you,” Elsa stated calmly over the rustling of the towel.

“But you should!” Anna insisted bitterly, aggressively dragging the paper towel through her hair, collecting strands of spaghetti and even more sauce. She hurled the soiled towel into the open trash bin and snatched up another. “It would be sensible for you to hate me after the way I’ve been treating you.”

“Is that what you want? For me to hate you?” Elsa inquired, very curious about the answer. Anna trained her eyes to her feet and lifted her shoulders, giving an indecisive shrug. “I suppose I probably would hate you if I was a heartless, uncaring person. That’s not who I am though. I’m a lover, not a hater.” She paused and fingered her bangs. “But if you want to know the truth,” Elsa said slowly, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest, drumming her fingers against her midsection, “I likely wouldn’t be standing here giving you the time of day if it wasn’t for one thing.”

Anna looked at her questioningly and asked dejectedly, “What?” She used the towel to noisily blow and wipe her nose, and as she did so, an errant string of spaghetti flopped loosely in front of her face, tickling her nose. Other than looking at it cross-eyed upon its sudden appearance, she paid it very little attention, too focused on what Elsa had to say.

Pinching the noodle between her thumb and forefinger, Elsa moved it out of the away and discarded it. “If you hadn’t kissed me,” she said simply.

“But I… what?” Anna confusedly searched Elsa’s face and saw how intensely serious she was. “I hit you,” she whispered forcefully, crumpling the towel in a fist. Surely that harsh act she committed canceled out anything remotely pleasant that might have happened previously?

“Yeah, you did… and I would be lying if I said it didn’t hurt,” Elsa answered, giving her tummy a pat and grimacing. “I was still feeling it hours later. I have to say, you certainly do pack quite an impressive elbow jab.”

“I’m so sorry,” Anna blurted out, her face crinkling up as fresh tears shimmered on the surface of her eyes. She opened her fist and the bunched towel sprang loose, unraveling. Her nervous hands twisted the used towel as she struggled to find the proper things to say. Her voice quivered as she said, “I shouldn’t have done that. It was uncalled for and I---”

Elsa shushed her and forced Anna to look at her, raising her chin up with the touch of her thumb. “If you hadn’t kissed me, I’d probably be standing off to the side right now watching you wallow in your spaghetti-covered misery, as much as I hate to admit that. But the kiss… It wasn’t just any kiss. It told me everything I needed to know, regardless of what followed immediately after. The kiss confirmed what I suspected and erased any doubts I might have had about where you stand. 

“You don’t engage someone in a kiss like that if you don’t feel anything for them. There was way too much emotion involved for it to mean anything else, and I would know considering I’ve had plenty of experience with kissing women in my short life. I can also safely say, without a doubt, not a single one of those kisses compared to how soft and sweet and meaningful yours was,” Elsa said earnestly. “I know what I felt. I‘m sure of it… I just need to hear it from you.”

“Elsa…” Anna grew pale and stood there paralyzed, at a loss for words. “I…” Her chin trembled uncontrollably and she was on the verge of crying again, but this time it was for an entirely different reason. She couldn’t believe how forgiving and compassionate Elsa was being towards her. It was so heartwarming and she was so undeserving of such kindness, and yet the blonde was giving it to her anyway. She knew she needed to say something and she mentally kicked the useless pile of mush that represented her brain, hoping it would throw her something worthy of saying.

When Anna was unable to produce anything from her mouth and stayed quiet, Elsa’s face fell and she puffed out a disheartened breath, clasping her hands together chokingly. “Or maybe I really was reading it all wrong and I‘m being foolish… If that’s true, if I’m wrong about it, if I’m making you uncomfortable in any way, I want to apologize for inconveniencing you. Just… just tell me to go away and I’ll go. I’ll leave you alone and never bother you ever again.” She would respect Anna’s decision and give her space if she wanted it.

Biting her lip, Anna slid her hands forward and captured Elsa’s within them, bringing them close to her heart and squeezing them strongly. 

When those warm hands engulfed hers, a small sound escaped past Elsa’s lips and she jolted in place, her spine snapping straight. She was well aware Anna was willingly holding hands with her of her own freewill, but what exactly did that mean? She held her breath in anticipation.

Anna exhaled heavily to give herself some courage and squared her shoulders. “I’ve been such a fool,” she murmured, turning Elsa’s hands over to study them, tickling the palms with her thumbs, giving Elsa pleasant goose bumps that swiftly traveled up her arms, spreading delicious chills to the rest of her body. “I thought I could fight it… I thought I could ignore it… but now I see that’s impossible.” Laughing weakly, Anna swallowed thickly, licking her dry lips to moisten them with her wet tongue. Her right leg picked up an insistent jiggle and she tried to quell the crazy shaking by stomping her foot down but it didn‘t make a difference. 

“I… well, I guess what I’m trying to say is… I like you, Elsa,” Anna revealed, her voice cracking out of nervousness. 

Elsa didn’t react right away and blinked repeatedly as the news sunk in. She had been fully prepared for a rejection, so to hear the words she was hearing was a pleasant surprise. “You ‘like me a lot’, huh?” The corners of her mouth rose stupendously. “You do have an interesting way of showing it.” 

“Look, I’m practically about to have a heart attack here! This is hard for me to say, you know!” Anna exclaimed, blushing steadily. “But yes… I’ve… um, grown quite fond of you. I just didn’t want to… I mean, I couldn’t admit it. I was… scared,” she confessed. “Scared of what you made me feel. It was foreign to me. I’ve never felt for anyone else what I feel for you, and the fact that you’re a… a woman…” She gulped, shyly glancing away. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. I didn’t think it was possible, frankly… But the things you do to me without even trying,” she whispered, choking on her words. Her face was burning up from admitting everything she’d strived so hard to keep bottled up and she itched the side of her neck, pulling on the collar of her shirt. 

Apparently sensing her discomfort, Elsa helped cool her down by rubbing her neck and face with the cool, wet rag. She couldn’t believe the girl she was pining for had just confessed her true feelings to her! Overwhelmed by the fantastic news, she wanted to rain kisses down on Anna’s freckled and adorably blushing face but figured it was much too soon for that. 

Anna smiled appreciatively and continued, “None of what I said is an excuse for assaulting you the way I did… You have no idea how sorry I am for lashing out and inflicting unnecessary pain on you, especially when you were in such a fragile state to begin with after confiding in me about something so personal… That was wrong of me, and I wish I could take it back… I just… I’m really messed up…” she finished wearily.

“We’re all messed up in some way,” Elsa said reassuringly. “I’m certainly far from perfect, as you already know. And in case it’s not already obvious, I really like you, too, Anna.”

Anna’s blush deepened. “I don’t understand why…” she said dryly. “I don’t know what you see in me.” In every single one of their encounters, excluding the internet ones, Anna had been incredibly rude and downright mean to Elsa, yet her attitude did not deter the blonde from pursuing her once. “Why you’ve put up with me for this long after everything… why you still do, I’ll never understand. I don’t deserve your kindness.”

Elsa disagreed. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”

“You gave me more than two chances,” Anna argued.

“Hm. That is true…” Elsa drawled. “Consider yourself lucky that I find you to be a rare, fascinating specimen. I’ve never encountered such a mysterious creature before and I just really wanted to find out more about you. I also have the tendency to be incredibly stubborn when it comes to certain things. And if you think a measly punch in the gut is going to chase me away, you better think again,” she added cheekily with a wink, rewarding her with an elusive, genuine smile from the redhead. Her heart soared seeing such a goldmine aimed her way.

“You are indeed incredibly stubborn. Frustratingly so.” Her smile never fading, Anna ducked her head bashfully, tucking a wisp of her hair behind her ear and whispered, “Thank you for that.”

Warmth filled Elsa’s chest at the soft-spoken words. “You‘re welcome,” she said. Arching an eyebrow and holding up her cleaning rag, she asked, “So… now that all the drama is out of the way, I hope… will you cooperate and allow me to finish cleaning you up?”

Anna acquiesced and lowered her head, giving Elsa a better view of the top of her hair. With her eyes aimed down, she got a nice view of Elsa’s lower attire and mentioned, “So you’re… um…wearing a skirt, I noticed.”

Running the wet rag through Anna’s hair to collect more sauce remnants, Elsa momentarily followed her gaze, glancing at her uniform skirt. She grinned sheepishly. “Um… yes. Do you like it? I noticed you couldn’t peel your eyes away from me for one second back in the dining room,” she said, batting her eyelashes and smiling coyly, playfully nudging Anna in the side with her elbow. 

“Shut up,” Anna grumbled gruffly, red-faced, throwing a balled up paper towel at her. “Why are you wearing a skirt if you dislike them so much?” Anna had observed several of the other waitresses and noticed not all of them wore skirts, so it must have been optional.

“I‘ll let you in on a little secret.” Elsa leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially behind her hand, “The guys tip more.” She tapped the tip of Anna’s nose. “Oh, and for the record, I don’t make a habit of flirting with them. Those dudes back there happen to be regulars of mine and we jokingly play around like that all the time. I just thought you should be aware in case you get a little jealous.”

Oh, if you only knew, Anna thought humorously and laughed wholeheartedly, recalling her reaction when she witnessed Elsa being overly friendly with the dudes in question.

Elsa marveled at the new glorious sound that caressed her eardrums. She yearned to hear the melodic sound again, and so for the remainder of the time she spent cleaning Anna up, she made it her mission to keep the girl in a constant fit of giggles. Now that Anna had finally warmed up to her, she discovered it was pretty effortless to do.

The cleaning process went by relatively quickly after that. Elsa did the best she could with the materials provided and said, carefully inspecting Anna‘s head, “I got most of it out but you‘ll have to shower to remove the rest and rid yourself of the smell.” Stepping back, she studied Anna’s dirtied clothes. “Hm… Wait one second. I‘ll be right back!” she excused herself, rushing from the bathroom temporarily to retrieve her regular clothes from her work locker.

When Elsa returned with the clothes tucked under her arms she ordered, “Take your clothes off.” A faint dash of color sprinkled her pale cheeks and she added quickly, “And I totally mean that in an innocent way!” She handed her the neatly folded clothing to prove that statement. “Put these on.”

Glowing bright red from her unintentional---or was it intentional?--- comment, Anna shifted her eyes to the pair of jeans and the plain blue t-shirt extended to her but made no move to take them from her. “I can’t wear your clothes.”

“They’re clean, don’t worry,” Elsa guaranteed.

“I wasn’t implying they weren’t. It’s just… if I take them, what are you going to wear?”

“I’ll keep my uniform on until I get home. It’s no big deal, Anna.”

Anna accepted them from her and Elsa turned her back to allow her to change in private. She stripped out of her clothes, being careful not to get the lingering sauce on her again, and dumped them in the trash. There was no need to save them since she had plenty of clothing at home. She tugged on the jeans Elsa lent her, finding them to be more comfy than the pair she chucked, and as she pulled Elsa’s shirt over her head she inhaled and detected the blonde’s subtle fragrance, which to the redhead’s nose smelled quite heavenly… By the time Anna had the shirt snugly on, she was flushing strongly and as she smoothed out the wrinkles she had to convince herself it was perfectly okay for her to think things like that.

With her back still to Anna, Elsa checked her watch and said, “Listen, my shift ends in about twenty minutes. If you don’t mind waiting that long, I can give you a ride home when I‘m done. Otherwise I could call you a cab and give you---”

Smiling widely, Anna impulsively latched her arms around Elsa’s torso, resting her cheek on her back. “I’ll wait. I’m not in a rush.”

Practically bursting with excitement, Elsa adjusted her position so they were front to front and reciprocated the hug, snaking her arms around Anna’s waist. Instead of violently pushing her away, Anna relaxed against her. With her nose pressed into hair that potently smelled of pasta sauce, Elsa planted a quick, chaste kiss on her forehead and said, “I just want you to know, Anna, that you don’t have to be afraid of anything. If there’s ever anything that is bothering you or making you uncomfortable, you can talk to me about it, okay?” The sticky, damp head she petted nodded in understanding.

Elsa was reluctant to let go of Anna, finding herself quite comfortable in their current and much longed for position, but she unfortunately had to get back to work soon. Releasing her from the hug but keeping her arms around her, Elsa teased, “Wow. If I had known throwing pasta at you was all it would take to get you to like me, I would have tried it from the beginning!” 

The comment earned her a crisp glare from Anna, but then she laughed and jostled Elsa with a friendly shove. “You’re terrible…”

Laughing along with her, Elsa said, “Come on. Let’s go outside.”

Casually sliding her hand into Elsa’s, Anna flashed a smile and they left the bathroom together. Hand in hand they walked out the door leading to the dining area. They were mainly focused on each other, so the increased noise level of the room didn’t register until a fried zucchini squash impacted into Elsa’s shoulder. When they both looked up their mouths dropped open at the chaos they saw. 

The entire restaurant had turned into a war zone. Every single body in the room was involved in an all out food fight. Food of all different shapes and sizes and consistencies went flying in every direction. Oaken, who was now a very colorful mess, was shouting outrageously and chasing after the child who caused the spaghetti spill from earlier, and Elsa suspected the little devil was likely the one responsible for the scene unfolding in front of them, as well.

Elsa yelped and dropped to the floor, yanking Anna down with her when a half-eaten lobster rocketed towards them. It hit the door at their backs and plopped on top of Elsa’s head. She shook it off and grabbed Anna, pulling them back to safety behind the door they’d just come through. 

“Um… on second thought, maybe it would be best if we just left now,” Elsa suggested, wincing at a squishy sound as an unknown portion of food smacked into the door on the other side. Anna didn’t argue.

They snuck out the back way to avoid being creamed by incoming morsels and walked out to Elsa’s Mustang in the parking lot. Acting all gentlemanly, as usual, Elsa opened the passenger door for Anna and waved her forward.

“You know, you really don’t have to do that,” Anna said kindly before getting in.

Once she was seated behind the wheel, Elsa said brightly, “I know.” She opened the glove compartment, revealing an array of CD cases stashed inside and picked one out. Removing the disc from its case, she popped it into the player. Before it disappeared into the slot, Anna saw her name labeled in black permanent maker on top. She glanced at Elsa curiously. “Just listen,” Elsa told her.

The first song began. It was called “Let It Go” and Anna was faintly familiar with it because she’d heard it on the radio a few times but she never bothered to pay attention to the words. She listened to the lyrics now and couldn’t help but smile, finding they applied to her recent situation very well. 

Bouncing in her seat, Elsa sang along exuberantly, and when it ended and another song blared from the speakers, she lowered the volume down a few notches. “I made this CD for you,” she said. “All the songs on it remind me of you.” 

“Thanks. That’s really sweet.” Anna was touched. She ran her eyes down the play list selection Elsa had penned on the cover and complimented, “You have an amazing singing voice. Have you ever considered making it a career?”

“Really? You think I sing that well?” Elsa snorted and laughed. “Thanks, I guess. But no… I sing because I enjoy it, not because I‘m good at it. I have no desire to make money off of it. When money gets involved it usually ruins the fun of things, anyway. I mean, look at how much of a mess celebrities become…” She shuddered and rubbed the sides of the steering wheel. “It‘s quite sad, when you think about it. I don‘t ever want to be like that.”

They listened to the next few songs in comfortable silence. It went by too quick for Anna. Before she knew it, her house was looming in front of her as the Mustang pulled into her driveway. A wave of sadness hit her and she sighed drearily. She didn’t want to deal with her mother’s questioning and her brother’s annoyingness. She wanted to stay and enjoy her time with Elsa for a little while longer.

Ejecting the CD, Elsa placed it in its case and passed it to Anna, who accepted it gratefully. Elsa unbuckled her seatbelt and went to open the car door to get out but Anna stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“No! Stay here.” Elsa sat back and Anna added, so as not to make her think something bad, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to walk me to the door. My mother is expecting me home any minute and she might be looking out the window... And, well, you know… Otherwise I wouldn‘t mind.” She put the CD on her lap and enfolded Elsa’s hands with her own, and for a long moment they just gazed into each other‘s eyes. “Elsa, thank you for tonight… Thank you for everything.”

“Anna?”

“Yes?”

“Do I have permission to kiss you?” Elsa ventured politely.

As her response, Anna swooped in and firmly but gently planted her lips onto Elsa’s. The kiss was very quick and short, and when they broke apart there was barely a few inches left between them. Anna didn’t move away and neither did Elsa, and in no time their lips met again, the second time lasting longer than the first. Their lips glided against each other tenderly. It was the best kiss Anna ever experienced because it was real and meant something and it wasn’t stick-your-tongue-down-my-throat crazy like pretty much all of the guys she had the misfortune of dating and occasionally made out with tended to do.

It was a change she could definitely get used to.

Still locked together, Anna laid her hand on Elsa’s stomach and stroked it apologetically for wrongfully harming it last time. Elsa tensed up when the contact was initiated but then relaxed, smiling into the kiss and murmuring pleasantly.

When the kiss finally ended they were both left breathless. Brushing her lips to Elsa’s cheek, Anna said faintly, “Bye.” After hearing the answering “Bye” that mirrored the voice level of her own, Anna exited the vehicle and strolled up to her house, grasping the CD case in her hands. The porch light flickered on as she reached the front door and at the same time the door opened and the butler looked out. Seeing Benjamin didn’t stop her from turning to wave to Elsa, who waved back enthusiastically. 

“Hello, Benjamin,” Anna greeted cheerfully as she entered, completely shocking the butler because he wasn’t used to such a friendly greeting from her.

He collected himself, and with a nod said, “Miss Anna.” He glanced out the wide open door, watching the Mustang drive away and smiled softly before closing it. “Did you have a good time, Miss?”

“If you’re referring to my date with Weselton, then no; I had a horrendous time!”

“But after, Miss?”

She looked at him uneasily, afraid to say anything else for fear Benjamin would take it and run to her parents. She wasn’t sure he’d do that, but she didn’t want to take a chance. “Yes… my friend,” she said, emphasizing the last word, “fortunately was there and helped me out of the difficult situation I was in.”

“Ah.” Benjamin pressed his lips together, forming a thin line and nodded before saying, “Very good.” He apparently wasn’t fooled by her use of the word “friend” because he winked, pretending to zip his lip, and then pivoted on his heel, walking away. Anna looked after him wonderingly and shook her head with a smile. 

Heading towards the stairs to go to her room, hoping to dodge her mother’s unwelcome confrontation, Anna was forced to stop when she heard her mother’s voice calling out to her from the living room. Her pleasant demeanor disappeared and she groaned and trudged unhappily into the room, walking up to the couch where her mother sat, busily reading a cheesy erotic story. 

Hearing Anna approaching, Idunn closed her book and set it aside, crossing her legs and folding her hands together on top of her knees. “Anna! How did your date with Weselton… go,” her voice trailed off and her smile vanished as she gave her daughter a cursory once over, taking in Anna’s considerably different state of dress. “What… what in the world are you wearing? What happened to your clothes? Your hair? Your face? Everything!” she shrieked, slapping her hands to her cheeks, aghast and apparently greatly offended by the unflattering sight of her daughter. “You look like a natural disaster! Absolutely hideous!” She shielded her eyes with her arm and shuddered, waving her other hand to shoo Anna away. “Make yourself presentable, please, and then we’ll… talk about your date.”

Rolling her eyes at her mother‘s childish display, Anna said brusquely, “No, I don’t want to talk about it.” Turning to go, she paused in the doorway and declared, “By the way, Weaseltown is a complete puckered asshole. Just thought you should know!”

“Well…” Idunn spluttered, turning her nose up in disgust at her daughter’s retreating back.

Anna left her mother and took a refreshing shower, ridding herself of all remaining signs of the pasta incident from her body. Afterwards she retired to her room and played the CD Elsa gave her, stretching out on her bed, listening to the songs the blonde had thoughtfully dedicated to her and thinking deeply about the new direction her life had suddenly taken. 

For the first time in her life she discovered what it was like to experience a moment of true happiness and it felt amazing! She felt liberated, like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and it was all because of a woman…

“Elsa,” she enunciated, letting the name roll smoothly off her tongue like honey and closing her eyes at the warm buzzing sensation it stirred up within her heart. 

Not Elroy, not some man she thought she needed, but a wonderful, kindhearted and insanely gorgeous woman named Elsa. Squeezing her pillow to her chest, Anna giggled and kicked her feet, rolling around on her bed like a teenage girl with a high school crush. All the rolling made her giddy and she collapsed on her back, breathing excitedly. Her gaze landed on her laptop sitting on her desk and she stared at it for a moment before squealing and jerking into an upright position. She let go of the pillow and climbed to her feet, padding over to the machine, throwing the lid open and powering it on. 

Waiting for the computer to start up was torturous and she found herself pacing impatiently in front of her desk, imploring it to load faster. “Come on, come on.” Eventually the background image and all her icons appeared and she wasted no time clicking on her IM and signing onto it. Her shaky hands made her fingers press the wrong keys more than once as she tried to put in her password and she cursed them colorfully. 

The very second she was connected to her IM a message popped up.

ChIcKmAgN3T: Hey! :D Glad I caught you. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you’re doing okay?

TooRich4U: yes. im fine. 

TooRich4U: more than fine… 

TooRich4U: im fantastic, actually. ive never been better! thanks to u. ;)

ChIckmAgN3T: Oh, well, I’m glad to hear it! I thought maybe you might have turned straight again since we parted. ;/

TooRich4U: ouch. ha ha… very funny. :P i definitely deserve that tho… *sigh* im sorry again for all the pain and misery i put u through… ;_;

ChIckmAgN3T: None of that! *shakes finger sternly* The past is in the past. Let’s look forward to a bright, rainbowy future. :D How does that sound?

Anna bit her lip and typed.

TooRich4U: i really like the sound of that. 

ChIckmAgN3T: Good. I bet you’re probably exhausted after everything you’ve been through tonight so I’ll let you go. Get some rest, okay? I’ll chat with you later. Sweet dreams, princess!

Grinning like an idiot, Anna shut her computer down and made a running jump onto her bed, diving underneath the covers and cocooning herself within them. 

The whole thing was funny, she thought before she succumbed to sleep. Once upon a time she swore she would never in a million years become a lesbian. Clearly a million years hadn‘t past yet but the evidence was undeniable.

She, Anna Arendelle, was a lesbian.

And there was a strong possibility she was falling in love with one, too...


	9. Playing Dirty

Elsa pulled in front of the Arendelle mansion in her Mustang and shifted the car to park. Allowing the engine to idle as she sat in the driveway, she peered out the front windshield and scanned the windows that lined the front of the house for any movement that would indicate the other girl was aware she was there. Normally she would have gone to the door to get Anna, but it had been seriously discussed and agreed between the two of them that it would probably be best if she refrained from going anywhere near the door to avoid any more unpleasant meetings with Anna’s brother, Hans, or possibly her parents. So the blonde patiently sat in her vehicle and waited for Anna to come out, and while she waited she thought about the amazing time the two of them shared together since they officially started dating. 

The girls had been seeing each other steadily for a month straight following the disaster dinner date episode and Anna’s much anticipated and long overdue coming out. And wow, the change in the copper-haired girl was such a phenomenal and welcoming relief to Elsa. The difference was like night and day. Anna was more energetic and bubbly and less withdrawn and snappy now that she wasn‘t hiding her true self. Rarely when they were together did Anna frown, an infectious, beaming grin almost always plastered on her delectable freckled face. Elsa adored the facial expressions Anna made when she laughed, the way her nose crinkled and how her eyes lit up spectacularly… Elsa sighed dreamily just thinking of the magnificent beauty she managed to capture, and all it took was lots of patience and a heaping plate of pasta.

She couldn’t believe they’d only been together for a measly month. It felt as if they’d been dating for much longer than that, though the fact that they saw each other almost every day might have had something to do with that. For sure, Elsa looked forward to spending more magical months with Anna. And if those months turned into years and those years turned into eternity, well, she certainly wouldn’t complain!

A wide smile surfaced on Elsa’s face as the front door was thrown open and the boisterous redhead bounded out, flying down the steps. Her duel braids slapped behind her as she sprinted the distance to the parked vehicle with unchecked enthusiasm. Having no time to get out and properly hold the door for her, Elsa reached across the seat and pushed the passenger side door open as Anna drew closer, enabling the other girl to enter without having to pause a beat. 

Elsa opened her mouth to greet Anna as she slid inside wordlessly, but before she could utter a syllable she was tackled aggressively. The back of her head thumped hard into the window as a pair of lips claimed hers voraciously in a highly demanding kiss that sucked all the available air out of Elsa’s lungs, leaving her lightheaded by the time it ended.

“Wow,” Elsa breathed out, sounding winded when Anna finally relinquished her. Sagging against the driver’s side door, she held a hand to the back of her head where she collided with the window and winced. “And ow.”

“Shit, Elsa!” Covering her mouth and wincing sympathetically, Anna apologized guiltily, “I’m sorry!” Hooking her arm around the back of Elsa’s neck, she dragged her closer to get better access, smothering the blonde’s face against her chest to plant a tender kiss directly on the afflicted spot while one hand fluttered up to soothingly massage the bruised area. “I couldn’t help myself. I missed you,” she said into the silky head of hair.

Elsa’s body shook with laughter. “Missed me? You act like you haven’t seen me in forever. We saw each other literally the other day,” she pointed out, carefully withdrawing from Anna.

“Yes, a whole day ago. A day is like a year! That’s way too long!” Anna complained, her lower lip jutting out.

Caressing Anna’s chin between her thumb and forefinger, Elsa pushed forward and pressed her lips to the irresistible, pouting ones on display before her. “I concur with that statement. Sadly, I do have to work for a living. Not everyone has the luxury of sitting on their butts because they‘re rolling in dough,” she remarked teasingly. She threw in one last, short kiss before she started to retreat.

Unwilling to end the connection so soon, Anna tugged her back forcefully, sliding her hand behind Elsa’s neck and deepening the kiss. Her unruly tongue knocked on the crack between Elsa’s lips, asking for clearance inside. Unable to deny the request, Elsa granted permission, parting her lips to allow a questing tongue to romp with her own, moaning at the sensational contact. 

They kissed like that for a long, uninterrupted minute before Elsa reminded herself they were still sitting in front of the house. Before things could get too carried away, she reluctantly broke the kiss, receiving a whine of complaint in return. Resting her forehead against Anna’s, she panted, “We…we should really get going.”

With her eyes shut tightly and her mouth curved into a satisfied smile, Anna nodded mutely. Though she would have liked to continue the kiss, to do so in front of her house where anyone could look out and see wasn’t exactly a smart idea. No one was home except for the maid, Marisol, and the butler, Benjamin, but still… she needed to be careful. 

Anna sat back in her seat, sucking on her lips and savoring the sweet flavor of Elsa that resided there. “Where are we going?” she asked distractedly, fumbling for the seatbelt to buckle up. They had a list of regular activities they usually did that mostly consisted of taking leisurely strolls in the park, cuddling and making out wherever permitted (Anna really liked making out with Elsa…), and occasionally they went to the cinemas to catch a movie, though half the time they paid little attention to what was playing on the screen, so engrossed in each other were they… Anna could tell that Elsa had something else in mind that day, something new and exciting judging by the way she was smiling.

“Would you like to go bowling?” Elsa asked, shifting the car into drive once she heard the audible click of the seatbelt, signaling that the other girl was safely buckled in. She eased off the brake pedal and coaxed the car down the driveway.

“Bowling? Um… I guess so?”

Pausing at the end of the driveway, Elsa cocked her head questioningly at Anna. “You sound uncertain. We don’t have to if you don‘t want to. It’s just a suggestion.” She turned onto the road and explained, “Honestly, I’ve been in the mood to do it for a while now, but I‘m okay with doing something else if you‘re not up to it. There‘s no pressure.”

“I don‘t mind it at all… It’s just… I’ve never done it before,” Anna confessed.

The Mustang stopped at a red light and Elsa swiveled her head to her right to cast a glance at her passenger. “You’re serious? You’ve never bowled before?” When Anna shook her head hesitantly, she cried, “You poor, deprived child. Were you raised in a barn?” 

“Shut up,” Anna grumbled with a smile, knocking her elbow into Elsa’s arm. “The people I hung out with weren’t exactly the bowling type, you know. I’m sure they‘d be more concerned about breaking a nail,” she said dryly. “I would love to try it, but I’m afraid I won’t be any good at it.”

“I’m not on a league myself so it’ll be perfectly fine if you‘re terrible at it! Besides, we’re doing it for fun so we can suck together! We’ll have a blast,” Elsa said exuberantly, throwing up a fist and hitting the ceiling with her knuckles in her excitement.

Anna couldn’t argue with that statement. She knew no matter what they did together, they would ultimately end up having a good time. Hell, if Elsa wanted to watch paint dry on a wall she wouldn’t object to it. With Elsa, there was never a dull moment. Resting her hand on Elsa’s knee, she said coyly, “You seem to be making up a lot of my firsts.”

Removing one hand off the steering wheel and entwining it effortlessly with Anna’s, her eyes sparkling merrily, Elsa responded, “Lucky me.”

Watching the gorgeous blonde as she concentrated on driving them to their destination, the heat of her hand fitted perfectly in her own radiating comforting warmth, Anna said softly, “No, lucky me.”  
__________________________________

The drive to the bowling alley was a relatively short trip and in no time Elsa was maneuvering the car into an empty parking spot in front of the building. She killed the engine and they hopped out of the car. Elsa strolled to the back and popped the trunk open, reaching inside to remove a pair of white, fancy looking, flat shoes. She turned and immediately handed them to Anna when she joined her side.

Anna looked at the offered shoes with confusion and tentatively took them. “Um… why are you giving me these? I already have shoes,” she said, waving to the ones her feet were comfortably snuggled into.

“I’m aware of that.” Elsa glanced briefly at her feet as she closed the trunk. “But these are special bowling shoes. You’re required to wear them if you want to bowl. You can wear mine or you can choose to rent a pair for yourself if you so desire, but I don’t think you want to rent potentially smelly shoes.” 

Dangling the shoes she’d been given in the air, Anna asked wryly, wrinkling her nose, “Are these not potentially smelly?”

“Give them a whiff and let me know!” Elsa cracked, linking her arm with Anna’s and tugging her inside the building. 

At the front desk Elsa paid for one game and rented herself a pair of shoes. She sat on the floor to put the shoes on, and as she did so she made a dramatic show of them being stinky, plugging her nose and gagging, even going so far as to feign fainting. She sprawled on the floor, limbs askew, eyes screwed tightly shut and tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. A few people passing by witnessed the comical show and laughed in amusement.

Anna played along with the ruse, offering out loud to resuscitate the completely conscious unconscious girl by giving her CPR. The offer earned her a surreptitious eye crack, followed by a puckering of lips. Bending over, Anna drew closer and closer to the lips that noticeably quivered, obviously in anticipation of meeting hers… and stuck the open portion of Elsa’s bowling shoes that she was so kind to lend to her right on her nose.

“Ugh,” Elsa spluttered, shooting into a sitting position and making a legit disgusted face. “That wasn’t CPR!”

Giggling, Anna took the shoe back from Elsa and said, “Nope! But it worked just as well, didn‘t it?” She plopped down next to her on the floor and switched her shoes out for the bowling ones. “Besides, I don’t think kissing--- ah, I mean giving you CPR in a place occupied by people is such a good idea.” She tied the laces, making certain the shoes were on tight enough and then reached over, digging a finger into Elsa‘s side. “There’s no telling what could happen,” she whispered conspiratorially.

“Ah, you make a fair point!” Elsa conceded, pushing herself to her feet, holding a hand out to assist Anna up. “It would probably be best if we hold off on the CPR till later!”

With the shoes taken care of and a lane acquired, they perused the ball racks scattered all around the alley loaded with a large variety of colored balls for their playing pieces. It didn’t take long for Anna to settle on the one she wanted. The ball she found was an avocado green color and she fell in love with it the second she laid eyes on it. She tried to pick it up and was surprised to find it was insanely heavy. All her hands managed to do was roll it uselessly in place on the rack. A growl escaped her throat as she grasped the ball with both hands and strained to remove it from the rack with absolutely no luck. Panting, she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and wondered how the hell she was supposed to bowl if she couldn’t lift the damn thing that was necessary to play the game to begin with. Elsa failed to mention that super human strength was a requirement for bowling…

Frustrated, Anna raised her eyes to see Elsa laughing at her pathetic struggling. “I don’t know what’s so funny,” she retorted, folding her arms grumpily. Her grumpy demeanor only made Elsa laugh harder. 

When she calmed down enough, Elsa revealed, “Princess, they’re all different sizes.” She adjusted the ball Anna was futilely trying to take and showed her the giant number prominently stamped on one side of it. “You need to find the one that’s right for you, and clearly this one isn‘t it.” Elsa skipped her hands upon the rows of balls until she found one that was similar in color to the one Anna wanted but labeled with a lower number. She hefted the ball, testing its weight, and when she was satisfied with the result she passed the ball to Anna. “Here, try this one.” Twiddling her fingers suggestively, she lowered her voice to a seductive whisper and said, “Shove your fingers in the holes and make sure it feels good around your digits.”

The ball nearly slipped from Anna’s hold at the pulse pounding inflection, but she recovered quick enough to avoid dropping the ball on her foot and breaking the bones in her toes. “You’re terrible,” she murmured, bringing a hand up to cover her face, trying to hide the rising blush that stained her cheeks. Certainly by now she should have been immune to Elsa’s blatant sexual innuendos since she spewed them so regularly, and yet without fail Anna always found herself reacting fiercely to the lewd comments. Not that she was complaining about it, since her blushing usually sprouted a sexy, smug smirk on Elsa’s lips, and whenever Anna saw one of those smirks it gave her very delicious, spine tingling sensations and sent a rush of warmth in all the right places. 

“What?” Elsa asked, feigning innocence. “I’m trying to teach you the ways of bowling. It’s not my fault if you misconstrue my words. Go on, try it out,” she prodded insistently. “You don’t want it to be too tight, but you don’t want it too loose either.” She avoided an incoming swat from Anna and procured an ice blue ball for herself, hugging it to her side. “I recommend you keep your ball out of the gutter,” she said, adding with a mischievous wink, “and get your mind out of there, too.”

Anna just shook her head, chuckling quietly. She inserted her thumb and two middle fingers into the holes available on her ball. The fit seemed comfortable enough, so she decided to stick with the ball. “It’s good,” she told Elsa.

Elsa dropped her own ball in the ball return area and studied their lane, eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully as she tapped her chin. “Would you prefer to use bumpers?” she inquired.

“Bumpers?”

Elsa gestured a few lanes down where a man and a woman with a small girl had the bumpers in place. “They’re meant for children, really, but adults who have no sense of coordination use them too.”

They both silently observed as the man, presumably the father of the child, placed an orange ball on the floor and waved the girl over. The child rushed up to him delightedly and the father mimed pushing the ball to show her what to do, pointing down the lane at the pins on the opposite end. She walked up to the ball and daintily kicked it with her foot before amusing herself by slapping her tiny hands against it. It took a bit more prompting by her parents, but she eventually pushed the ball with all her little might. The vibrant ball traveled excruciatingly slowly down the lane, pinballing against the barriers on either side, reducing speed the further it rolled along. It barely reached the pins, lightly tapping one and sending it tumbling down. The girl screeched in celebration and latched on to her father’s leg at her accomplishment.

Clearly having the bumpers implemented guaranteed that some of the pins would get knocked down. It was definitely a plus to have for children since they were more likely to miss the pins. For adults though, or at least in her case, Anna imagined that playing with the guards would dissolve some of the fun factor in the game, so she opted to skip using them. “Let’s do it without them,” she said decisively. She groaned at her choice of words and knew without peeking there would be a devious smile making itself comfy on the blonde’s lips.

She actually could hear the infuriating smile when Elsa ribbed lightly, “You wish to forgo using protection for your first time?” 

Blushing brightly, Anna declared menacingly, “I’m going to kick your ass, and I’m going to do it the proper way.”

“Oooh. Now that I would like to see.” Elsa flipped her immaculate single braid behind her back and seated herself in front of the computer to finish setting up their game. “Let’s get this game started so the supposed butt kicking can commence,” she said eagerly. “Would you like to use our real names or an alias?” 

After placing her own ball right beside Elsa’s, Anna moved to stand behind her and propped her elbows on the blonde’s shoulders. “Alias.”

“I was hoping you’d say that!” Elsa cracked her knuckles and flashed a vicious grin. “I’ve got the perfect name for you!” She tapped at the controls and inputted the name she cleverly chose for Anna into the computer: TooStr84U.

When Anna saw the name show up on the screen she had to bury down a laugh. She leveled a blank look at the back of the blonde’s head and snorted. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

Tilting her head back to gaze up at Anna, Elsa boasted cheekily, “Clever, isn‘t it? It’s a nice twist to your screen name.”

It was impossible for Anna to keep a serious face on with Elsa peering up at her all smiley and proud and adorably squeezable. The urge to just wrap her arms around the older girl and crush her in a loving chokehold was almost too much, but she controlled the urge and instead flicked the upturned nose sharply with her middle finger, causing Elsa to flinch and rear back, shouting out a surprised, “Hey!” as she rubbed her nose petulantly.

Coming around to Elsa’s side, Anna leaned her hip against her sitting form and noted, “Since you so generously named me, I think it’s only fair that I pick out a name for you.”

“Go ahead!” Elsa raised her hands off the controls to give her free reign.

Anna didn‘t budge from her spot. Stroking her fingers through the blonde tuft of hair hanging over Elsa‘s forehead, she said, “Type it for me. I’ll spell it out.” She waited till Elsa was ready and then called out eight individual letters in rapid succession.

Elsa studiously copied down the letters she was given, and when she was finished with that she read over the name she’d been christened with and gasped in mock offense. “So I’m a SmugJerk, huh?”

“The biggest,” Anna stated, affectionately tweaking the blonde‘s earlobe. “Consider yourself lucky I have a thing for smug jerks.”

“Funny, I was about to say something similar to you, only replace smug jerk with straight girl,” Elsa fired back breezily. She pressed one final button on the machine and shot up out of the chair, giving Anna a fright at the abrupt movement. “Let’s bowl!” Doing a sweeping bow, she extended her hand towards the lane and said, “You’re up first, princess.”

“Me?” Anna squeaked, shooting a panicked look at the suddenly intimidating polished lane to the overhead screen which insistently flashed TooStr84U. “Why can’t you go first? I was hoping to watch you to get a hang of things.”

“Come on!” Elsa encouraged, getting behind Anna and shoving the resistant girl forward. “There’s nothing much to learn,” she assured, giving Anna her chosen ball. “The aim of the game is to hit as many pins as possible. Try and keep your throw straight. Just hold the ball in your dominant hand, fingers in the holes, and curl your arm like so,” she said, showing Anna a demonstration. “And then just let it go!” She pretended to roll an invisible ball down the lane. “Okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Anna said unconvincingly, anxiety written all over her face as her hands squeezed against the solid ball, almost as if she were trying to squish it.

Elsa settled her hands on Anna’s shoulders and massaged them, doing an excellent job of loosening the rigid muscles under her palms. “Relax,” she soothed gently into her ear, kneading and working her way around the edges of Anna‘s neck. “There’s no reason to be uptight over it. We’re doing it for fun, remember?”

The blonde’s administrations felt so good that Anna forgot where she was momentarily and her eyes drifted closed. She surrendered her body to the skillful hands, dangerously on the verge of collapsing to the floor. The only thing keeping her afloat was the supportive body she sank against. 

Elsa marveled at the sight of the other girl practically turning to mush under her touch and felt more than a little guilty for putting an end to it, but they were in a public place and there was a bowling game to be played. Kissing the nape of Anna’s neck delicately as an apology, she removed her hands and heard the unhappy sigh that followed. “Hush, you. Now bowl! Let’s see what you can do.”

“Okay…” Anna said timidly. Ball in hand, she approached the lane and eyed the pins lined up in a triangle formation on the opposite end. They looked so far away, unreachable… Breathing in deeply to boost her confidence, she straightened her spine and, following Elsa’s advice, curled her arm as she pulled it back to throw the ball. With a grunt rivaling that of a tennis player, Anna flung her arm forward, but she forgot to let go when she should have, and instead of seeing the ball travel down the lane towards its intended target as expected, the ball went flying backwards. It narrowly missed Elsa, who threw herself to the side to dodge the incoming cannonball, and crashed into the table behind them, upending abandoned drinks that had yet to be cleared that were left over from the previous users of the lane.

Surprised screams and shouts, followed by raucous laughter rang in the air from those who witnessed the embarrassing attempted shot. Cringing, Anna cried and flimsily waved apologetically, “Sorry!” She felt so humiliated and wanted to crawl into the ball dispenser and hide, and if she thought she could fit, she would have attempted to do so. Instead, she crouched low to the ground and blocked her face with her hands, groaning pitifully at her massive failure.

Elsa fetched the errant ball and hurried back to Anna, lugging the embarrassed girl to her feet with little trouble and prying her hands free from her face. Showing a placating smile, she placed the ball in Anna’s hands again. “To make it perfectly clear, you want to aim for the pins, which in case you aren’t aware,” she said, turning Anna in the right direction so the pins were directly in sight, “are that way.”

“Ha ha,” Anna said, forcing an uneasy laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind. Shit...” She stood staring at the ball in between her hands and deadpanned, “This might be considered possession of a deadly weapon.”

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I hit the ceiling with a bowling ball one time,” Elsa told her confidentially.

“You did?”

“Mm hm!” Elsa said, “If you think this was embarrassing, imagine how super embarrassed I was. I knocked the ceiling tiles down and everything. Despite that, I did manage to get a strike! Though it was on the next lane over, so obviously it didn‘t count. Not that it would have mattered because destroying the building put an immediate end to the game. Needless to say, I didn‘t show my face in a bowling alley for quite some time after that incident!” She gave Anna a gentle push. “Give it another shot. You‘ll do fine this time. Hopefully… Just remember to let go of the ball when you bring your arm forward. Don‘t hold onto it.”

Grudgingly, Anna tried again, and her second attempt went much smoother than the first. She timed her throw perfectly so the ball ejected from her hand at the right moment, falling onto the lane where it rightfully belonged and rumbling down the slick surface with purpose. The ball never wavered off the center of the lane and barreled beautifully into the row of pins, successfully knocking all ten of them down.

The gate lowered and swept the fallen pins out of sight as the screen above their heads showed a giant red X and played cartoon footage of an evil looking ball harassing and running over frightened, scattering pins that were trying to escape. Viewing the cartoon, Anna couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the poor pins… and then of course she felt silly for thinking that because they were inanimate objects and didn‘t have feelings! But still… “Is that good?” Anna asked doubtfully.

“Are you kidding? You got a strike, Anna! That’s fantastic!” Elsa answered excitedly, slapping her back rewardingly. “Try and keep that up for the rest of the game,” she dared as she grabbed her ball to take her turn. She wasn’t lucky enough to get a strike, but she managed to knock over nine out of ten pins with her first shot and struck down the last one on her second try, nabbing herself a spare. 

Then it was Anna’s turn again. Feeling more relaxed now that she got the hang of how to play, she decided to experiment as she went to throw the ball and gave her wrist a little twist, which made the ball spiral and twirl as it thundered along and zeroed in on the neatly stacked pins.

Impressed by the technique, Elsa complimented her and tried to replicate it, failing terribly and consecutively missing all the pins both attempts, which prompted Anna to taunt, “Isn’t the point to hit the pins?”

Taunting Elsa was a big mistake on Anna’s part. Elsa didn’t say anything about the comment and hardly seemed affected by it in any way, but the following frames after that, every time it was Anna’s turn to go, Elsa would purposely try and mess her up. At first she did it covertly, but once the players occupying the lanes on either side of them had finished their games and left, Elsa went all out, free to do as she pleased without disrupting anyone else‘s game. She sang “Let It Go” horribly out of tune and pranced around, causing the redhead to laugh and fumble her throws, which resulted in her missing most of the time. It was too bad, too, because for a newbie she played surprisingly well, and if not for Elsa doing everything in her power to distract her, Anna would have far surpassed Elsa’s score. Being forced to endure Elsa’s antics added a challenging element to the game.

In a way it bugged her that Elsa could so easily and effortlessly steal her attention with practically a mere bat of an eyelash, but at the same time she quite enjoyed it. It was just one of the many ways that made Elsa so excitably different and appealing from anyone else she’d ever dated.

The game progressed rather quickly, and too soon they were on the final frame. Anna’s score was at 102 and Elsa’s was at 105. Elsa was beating her by a total of three points and that was unacceptable. She had one last chance to redeem herself. Determined to win her first ever bowling game against the blonde cheat, Anna plugged her ears with her fingers and called, “I’m going to tune you out!” 

Unfortunately for her, her plan to block Elsa’s noise out wasn’t going to work because as long as her fingers were positioned where they were, she wouldn’t be able to bowl. Having no choice, Anna risked removing her fingers and took her last two shots with shouts of “Sandwiches!” and “Chocolate Fondue!” filling her ears. The sandwiches part didn’t affect her all that much and she struck seven pins, but at the mention of sweet chocolate on her second go, the ball curved and skirted around the last two pins, missing them completely.

“And it’s over!” Resting her hands on her knees, Elsa said, “Phew! I never knew how tiring being distracting can be! It‘s quite a workout.”

“Genius, the game‘s not over yet,” Anna said, sitting in a chair and crossing her legs, leaning her elbows on her knees. “You still go.”

“Oh, I know. But it’ll be an easy win,” Elsa said smoothly, flashing the OK sign with her hand. She wiped her hands on her pants to dry them of perspiration and carried her ball to the foot of the lane, swinging it confidently at her side. “All I need to do is hit at least five pins to beat you, and I‘m pretty confident I can accomplish that.” 

With very little preamble, Elsa sent the ball flying down the lane. The ball stayed in the lane for most of its journey, but as it neared the end it teetered precariously on the edge of the gutter. It rode the line without falling in, miraculously, and just barely bumped into the outer most pin, which wobbled back and forth before tipping over.

“Nice job,” Anna piped up, whistling and slowly clapping her hands. “Keep that up and you’ll beat me for sure!”

Throwing a lazy smirk her way, Elsa stretched her arms and legs unhurriedly, limbering up as she waited for the ball return machine to spit her ball back out. She heard it coming out of the shoot and scooped it up as it sprang out. She strolled up to the lane for what might possibly be the last time, depending on whether she toppled all the pins over or not, and paced back and forth in front of it, noting the position of the pins left standing and considering her plan of attack, heaving her ball in the air as she did so.

Realizing Elsa still had a very good chance of beating her, Anna sat on the edge of her seat, waiting for her possible defeat or victory. Suddenly a spark of inspiration struck her and she saw an open opportunity to pay Elsa back for sabotaging her game. Used to receiving the brunt of Elsa’s teasing, Anna decided for once to give the blonde a taste of her own medicine. Smiling slyly, she climbed stealthily to her feet and snuck up behind the blonde, who stopped pacing and was finally preparing to take her final shot.

The tip of Elsa’s tongue protruded from between her teeth as she concentrated hard on the task ahead. Holding the ball slightly below her chin, taking the stance of a professional bowler, she steadied her breathing and drew her arm back.

Anna made her move, diving forward and sliding her body tightly against Elsa’s left side. “I’ll let it go all over your face,” she alluringly whispered into the exposed ear, flicking her tongue out to faintly graze the soft skin there.

It had the desired effect Anna was looking for. Elsa’s entire face reddened and she lost her focus, her arm jerking and flopping forward, causing her shot to go wild. The ball thumped onto the lane like dead weight and uselessly rolled straight into the gutter, rumbling along until it was swallowed into the black hole beyond the pins.

“Hm. Perhaps we should have went with the bumpers, after all,” Anna quipped to a stunned Elsa, whose jaw was hanging open. The redhead pressed a finger underneath her chin to close her gaping mouth.

“That was evil and cruel,” Elsa complained sourly, glowering at her with a very prominent blush still present on her neck and cheeks. A flicker of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips, letting Anna know she wasn’t seriously mad or upset with her.

Anna pecked her lips and cheered smugly, “I win!” She jumped back from Elsa and whooped, fist pumping in celebration.

Rolling her eyes, Elsa reminded huffily, “Who’s the smug jerk here?”

“She became a sore loser,” Anna shot back gleefully, sticking her tongue out childishly and shaking her butt, bumping against Elsa‘s leg.

Lunging forward, Elsa coiled her arm around the celebrating girl’s waist and reeled her in, huskily retaliating with a leer, “Someone is going to be sore somewhere by the time I’m done having my way with her.”

The comment effectively shut Anna up fast, a blazing inferno erupting on the younger girl’s features.


	10. What the duck?

Anna had such a blast her first time bowling that she was raring to play many more games against Elsa, and she intended to beat the troublemaker at every single one.

Elsa, on the other hand, was done losing for the day, accepting her sore loser role like a champ. She politely declined the invitation to “get creamed,” as Anna glowingly put it, promising her they would return another time if she wanted to. Anna pouted her obvious disappointment but didn’t push it, knowing Elsa was right. There would be plenty of other times for them to go bowling and she certainly planned to make sure they did it more often!

They left the bowling alley and grabbed a quick bite at the nearest fast food place, and while they sat in the car and ate their meals they discussed what they should do next. It didn‘t take long for them to come to a decision.

Out of all the activities they did together, the one that Anna looked forward to the most was their frequent, simple walks in the park. She especially favored when they took them at night because once the sun went down the park was devoid of almost all humanoid souls. No people meant she would have Elsa’s company entirely to herself. Occasionally they’d run across a bum lounging under bushes or a straggling night owl jogger zipping along the paths, but for the most part there wasn’t anyone around to disturb them and the girls could walk together in peace and quiet. It was a welcoming change compared to when they went to the movies or restaurants or other establishments that were usually crawling with tons of loud, intrusive people…

The park’s parking lot was nearly empty when they showed up, the only other vehicle in the area being a lone ice cream truck that was preparing to leave. Seeing the colorful images of appetizing frozen treats printed on the side of the truck’s body, the girls both unanimously decided that they were in the mood for some dessert. Elsa honked the horn as the truck started to pull away and they flagged it down, sticking their arms out the windows and thrashing them crazily to nab the driver‘s attention, hollering for him to wait. Luckily the driver was kind enough to stop for them and they were able to purchase two chocolate coated vanilla ice cream cones, stuffed with caramel filling and topped with chopped peanuts.

With their freshly acquired frozen snacks in hand, they sauntered into the park and followed the winding, paved pathway, making small talk about nonsensical things along the way. Eventually they came upon the lake and they crossed the wooden bridge bisecting the expansive body of water to get to the other side. 

The stars nestled high above in the pitch black sky glittered fantastically on the water’s reflective surface. It was a marvelous view that nature provided them and one Elsa wanted to appreciate fully. She suggested to Anna that they hang out by the lake for a while and Anna nodded her assent. Together they wandered off the marked path and located a spot not too far from the water’s edge. The grass was a little damp in some areas, so Elsa slipped out of her jacket and spread it out on the ground to give Anna a dry, comfortable place to sit.

“Always being so gentlemanly,” Anna observed, lowering herself down onto the thoughtfully offered garment.

“Would you expect less from me, princess?” Elsa said, plopping down on the grass beside Anna. She juggled her ice cream from one hand to the other and took off her shoes and socks. “What kind of person would I be if I let my girlfriend get her cute little butt wet? That‘s unacceptable!” She sank her feet ankle deep into the lake and cooed with satisfaction at the sensation of the cool water lapping hungrily at her skin.

Looking at her own feet, Anna debated on whether to do the same, and after a few long seconds she finally made up her mind and tugged her shoes off as well, or at least attempted to. Her shoes stubbornly remained attached to her feet, refusing to budge an inch. In order for her to remove them, she needed to loosen her shoelaces first, which was easier said than done. Unfortunately she had a bad habit of tying the laces a little too tightly due to them always breaking free and nearly tripping her disastrously and so she significantly struggled to undo the knot with one single hand.

Noticing she was having trouble, Elsa wordlessly helped assist her with the knot, unlacing the confining footwear with very little difficulty, and before long Anna was able to slip out of her shoes with no problem. 

Once free, Anna wiggled her unrestrained toes and submerged her feet into the lake, thanking her girlfriend with a smile and a lingering peck on her cheek. 

The two of them settled down and indulged in their tasty treats, cuddling shoulder to shoulder in companionable silence, watching as ducks frolicked in the water ahead of them. The rowdy birds created tiny ripples on the otherwise calm surface as they preened themselves and lazily swam around, foraging for fish and bugs. 

Entertaining as it was to watch the wildlife, Elsa’s attention didn’t last very long on the ducks, drifting away from the lake and its occupants in favor of admiring the breathtaking beauty seated right beside her. What little light the moon gave off illuminated the younger girl’s face well, highlighting her bright, serene smile and allowing the smattering of freckles displayed on the bridge of her nose and cheeks to stand out. 

Captivated by the delightful sight, Elsa’s tongue flicked mechanically to scoop up her rapidly melting ice cream. Her tongue failed to actually make physical contact with the sweet, and the absence didn’t seem to register as the blonde obliviously continued to lap uselessly at the air inches above it.

Humming tranquilly, Anna jubilantly devoured her treat with childlike enthusiasm. During her ravenous assault she somehow managed to accidentally get a glob of the vanilla cream on the very tip of her nose. Quirking her mouth in puzzlement, she tilted her head back and vainly tried swiping at the drop with her tongue, sticking it out as far as it could go and curling it upwards, but the distance was too far for her tongue to reach. Wrinkling her nose in bunny-like fashion, she tried to shake the dab off, and when that didn’t work she swatted it away with the side of her finger. 

Feeling wonderfully at ease, Anna sighed contently and stirred her feet beneath the water’s surface in a merry little dance. She risked invading her partner’s space by bumping her toes against the closest foot available to her and turned to see if her playful nudges produced a reaction from Elsa. What she saw made her splutter into a fit of silly giggles and she pointed at the blonde and exclaimed, “You’re dripping everywhere!”

“Huh?” Not comprehending what Anna was talking about, Elsa glanced down at herself to find trails of melted ice cream speedily trickling down her wrist, making its way down the length of her forearm. Startled, she hurriedly raked up the errant substance with a few swipes of her tongue, and once her arm was cleansed and she slurped up enough of the melting cream to avoid a repeat, she grinned cockily and crooned at Anna, “Only for you!”

“Oh, god.” Anna slapped a hand over her own face and groaned out loud, threateningly waving her half eaten ice cream at her cheeky girlfriend. “I’m going to throw this at you.”

“But then you’ll get me all sticky!” Elsa protested, shrinking away to avoid the possible incoming attack.

“Seriously?” Anna scoffed. “You can always take a dip in the lake to clean off!”

Elsa perked up and elevated one eyebrow. “Naked?” she suggested lasciviously, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as if preparing to whip it off at any second. She daringly inched it up past the indent of her belly button.

Any focus Anna had was lost, her eyes glazing over as she vividly imaged Elsa unabashedly stripping out of her clothes, her curvaceous hips swaying confidently as she strutted up to the lake, raising her arms high above her head to give Anna an unhindered view of her buck-naked body before grandly diving into the water. A strong burst of heat engulfed her face and she hastily said, “Oh, my god. No! I was joking, Elsa! And when I said it, I didn’t mean--- Jeez, I meant with your under things ON! Not… naked!” 

“Really, now, what sane lesbian takes a dip in the lake with clothes on? Blasphemous!” Elsa was, of course, only playing around with her. She had no intention of actually going skinny dipping, especially in such an openly public place, regardless of whether there were people around or not. There was also the fact that swimming in the lake in general was strictly prohibited, as per the signs posted around the perimeter. She wasn’t ready to stop the act yet though, enjoying the reaction she was getting out of Anna as she tugged up on her shirt more firmly, gradually exposing more and more of her bare skin to the other girl.

As the shirt rode up temptingly higher and higher, the redhead’s eyes grew alarmingly wider. “Elsa! Don‘t you dare!” Anna hissed warningly. 

There was no way for Anna to know Elsa was bluffing, and when she saw no sign of Elsa slowing down or ceasing her actions, a look of pure mischief scrawled upon the blonde’s face, Anna reacted quickly. What was left of her ice cream tumbled out of her hands and plopped with a squishy splat onto the grass behind her as she snapped forward with a yelp and yanked Elsa’s shirt back down. She kept both of her hands strategically positioned on the older girl’s stomach, adamantly preventing the frisky blonde from disrobing if she made any further attempts to try. 

“Elsa! We’re in a public place!” Anna chastised fiercely, throwing glances around to ensure there was nobody around. “Please keep your clothes on!” 

Her request was understandable and one that really didn’t require her to say anything more on the subject. But for some inexplicable reason, Anna’s mouth moved against her will and she heard herself blabber out, “You’re like really gorgeous--- insanely so, actually--- and as much as I’d like to see you without a stitch of clothing on, I honestly wouldn’t know how to handle myself in such a situation because, I mean, you’ll be naked and not wearing any clothes, which means you‘ll be naked…” Nervously fingering a loose thread on Elsa’s shirt, Anna was acutely aware of Elsa’s increasingly widening smile as more and more unintelligent words gushed forth from her. “And like, I’ve thought about it more than I’d like to admit, you being naked and all… but… but…” Oh god, she needed to shut up because she sounded like a bumbling fool. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I think it would be a bit overwhelming if you were naked, and you shouldn‘t do it here because of… reasons,” Anna lamely peeped out before successfully wrangling her mouth shut. Her eyes slipped closed and she silently cursed herself for her idiocy.

A cricket lurking in the grass somewhere nearby bleeped out several streams of exceptionally loud chirping, making a point to punctuate how awkward her inane rambling had truly been. Anna wanted to scour the grass to locate the little bugger and squash it to death with her foot to teach it a valuable life lesson.

Elsa’s smile didn’t fade or falter an inch as she tipped the circular opening of her cone to her mouth and drank the rest of her now soupy ice cream. When she finished it, she petted the hands that had yet to move from her belly and said, “I’m sorry, Anna. Could you repeat what you said, please? I’m not positive but I think there’s a teensy weensy possibility you want to see me naked.”

“I don’t--- I didn’t--- Ugh!“ Clasping her hands together and throwing them behind her, Anna flopped backwards on the ground and squeezed her arms against the sides of her head as if to pop it. She complained irritably, “You really like to make things difficult for me, don’t you? Can‘t you take pity on me and ignore the absolute garbage that falls out of my mouth?” 

Elsa’s laugh breezed through the air. “I wouldn’t consider any of the words coming out of your mouth garbage.” Her thick braid fell off her shoulder, lightly smacking the younger girl‘s face as she leaned forward on one elbow to hover over Anna. “And you like to make things difficult for yourself, silly. Don’t put the blame on me.” Sneakily pinching Anna‘s side, she got a responsive jolt and a high-pitched squeak from the curled form and faintly saw the corner of Anna‘s mouth twitch into a smile. 

Quickly trying to hide her smile, Anna rolled onto her side and placed her back directly towards Elsa, forcing out a loud harrumph to convey her lackluster annoyance. 

Chuckling humorously at her girlfriend‘s adorably grumpy act, Elsa scooted her body closer so Anna‘s back was flush against her front. Lowering her head, she gently prodded the point of her nose into the nape of Anna’s neck, inhaling the other girl’s deliciously sweet scent. “You were the one who so eloquently confessed you want to see me naked, sweetie, and that is not something I can pretend I didn‘t hear!” Lubricating her dry lips with the help of her moist tongue, Elsa tickled the back of Anna’s ear with her warm breath, thriving in the sharp intake the action produced from the girl. She trailed her breaths lower, craning her neck to grant her access to the side of Anna’s throat, where she planted a delicate kiss before moving back to her ear. “I have no qualms about seeing you naked, either, my princess. If you like, I could blubber endlessly like an idiot and admit how badly I want to see you without a shred of clothing on, and I could even explain in great detail all the things I’d love to do to your divine body with my hands…” She ghosted her fingers down Anna’s side, coming to rest at her hip and giving it a light squeeze. “And especially with my mouth,” she confessed naughtily in a whisper, her words coated thickly with unconcealed desire.

Anna released a low moan, clutching her abdomen at the sudden churning, sizzling, heat that pooled there. She shivered with excitement at the awesome potential those headily whispered words promised. Flushing feverishly, and dizzy with a powerful need, she noisily cleared her throat and stuttered, moving into a sitting position, “I-I think it would be a good idea if we steered the conversation AWAY from the subject of either one of us being naked and the possible ensuing activities that might follow...”

“And why in the world would we want to do that?” Elsa asked, genuinely curious about the reason behind them stopping what she personally thought was a delightfully desirable discussion.

Swallowing down the saliva that gathered abundantly on the surface of her tongue, Anna quietly informed her, “Because… you’re making me really uncomfortable, right now.”

“Oh… I---” Thinking she crossed a line with her admittedly blunt forwardness, Elsa stiffened drastically and sharply drew away from Anna as if she‘d been physically burned. An array of worry lines marked her forehead as she slouched dejectedly and said bleakly, “I’m really sorry, Anna.”

The abrupt change in Elsa’s attitude threw Anna off. “Wait, what? Sorry?” she asked, dumbfounded. Then, realizing how her previous words might have been interpreted by the blonde, she cried out, “No! It… it’s alright, Elsa. Don‘t be sorry. Shit…” Shifting to her knees, Anna smoothed her hand up Elsa’s arm, calmingly rubbing her tense shoulder and said gently, “Hey, look at me.” When Elsa didn’t obey her command she tapped up insistently on her chin and forced her to do so. “You misunderstood me. When I said you were making me uncomfortable I didn’t mean it in a bad way, if you catch my drift,” she hinted slyly. 

Searching Anna’s face carefully, Elsa said, “So… you mean…?” When Anna gnawed shyly on her lower lip and dropped her gaze to her lap, Elsa smiled understandingly. “Ah… I see.” She laughed nervously and the uneasiness slowly drained from her body, her shoulders falling into a relaxed state. “Well, that’s…definitely good to hear.”

Anna slowly nodded her agreement, but she still looked troubled. Though the misunderstanding had been cleared up rather quickly, thankfully, she couldn‘t let the moment pass without confronting a very serious issue it presented, and that issue was seeing Elsa momentarily lose her confident nature. It didn’t happen very often, and most of the time it wasn’t even really that noticeable, but when Anna recognized the signs it was… disheartening. She didn’t want her girlfriend to be cautious about the things she said or did around her, fearing she would offend Anna in some way. Determined to put a stop to it, she clamped her thumb and forefinger firmly on Elsa’s jaw to capture her undivided attention and said, “I want you to understand something, Elsa, because I notice you have these moments where you are uncertain or doubtful---”

“I don‘t want to do anything stupid that would make me lose you,” Elsa inserted weakly with a half shrug.

“---and I know it‘s all my fault.” Anna frowned as she reflected back on her horrible treatment of Elsa in the beginning. How nasty and bitchy she’d been and how she physically hurt the blonde because of her own, irrational stupidity. She released a pained noise and shook her head, swearing she would never again do anything to disappoint or seriously hurt her cuddly, lovable, and sometimes insufferable Elsa. “I was confused and took my anger and frustration out on you, the one person who bothered to show me an ounce of kindness… and I will never stop apologizing for what I did because frankly I don‘t think my feeble apologies could truly make up for that atrocious behavior.”

Elsa traced her fingertips lovingly upon Anna‘s lips and was suddenly possessed with the unrelenting need to kiss them. She complied with her need and took the talkative mouth with her own, murmuring against them, “Stop.”

“No, let me finish. Don‘t distract me with that sexy mouth of yours,” Anna scolded, squirming and twisting her head to fight against the kiss, not that she actually wanted to stop kissing Elsa. She wanted to kiss Elsa to her heart’s content but she needed to appease her first by getting her point out. “This is important, okay? I need you to know that nothing you do or say could offend me or upset me, not anymore,” she addressed sternly. “I accept you and all your quirky, lesbian ways completely and unconditionally. Do you understand?”

Meeting those compelling, passionately heated eyes head on, Elsa was struck by a powerful emotion that flowed through her veins and sent her heart racing double time. Rendered speechless by the effect this girl had on her, she nodded meekly to portray her understanding and swiftly distracted herself from pouncing on Anna and ravishing her right then and there by paying extra special attention to delicately nibbling on the cone she still had in her hand.

Seeing the cone reminded Anna of her own unfortunate loss splayed on the grass somewhere behind her. She looked over and saw what was left of it was already being feasted upon by an army of ants and she sighed disappointedly. The waffle cone was by far her favorite part of the ice cream and she missed out on it thanks to her girlfriend‘s crazy antics. Bunching her knees to her chest, she dropped her chin on top and grumbled, “You owe me a waffle cone.”

“Is that so?” Dangling her own cone enticingly before the redhead, whose eyes followed it magnetically, Elsa said, smiling gently, “Do you want to share the rest of mine with me, princess?”

“No…” Unraveling herself from her tucked pose, Anna crawled onto Elsa’s lap, positioning herself so she was facing the older girl. Making herself comfortable, she wrapped her legs around the blonde’s waist and slipped her arms behind her neck. “Since you made me drop mine thanks to your little strip tease stunt, you should be nice and let me have the whole thing, ” she insisted convincingly.

“Or I could act like I’m going to share it with you but eat it all instead and laugh evilly in your face afterwards,” Elsa noted. The cone had softened somewhat after absorbing moisture from the melted ice cream that clung to it and she easily tore a large strip off behind Anna’s back. She introduced the ripped piece to Anna, placing it directly in front of her lips. 

And despite hearing Elsa’s previous sentence, Anna trustingly opened her mouth to receive it. Just before her mouth could enclose around it, Elsa moved the piece away and stifled a small laugh when Anna’s top teeth clicked audibly with her bottom teeth as she chomped down on nothing but empty air. 

“Hey!” Putting on her best pouty face, Anna removed her arms from their original placement around Elsa and sulked, crossing them over her chest. “You’re so mean.”

Elsa kissed the tip of her nose and said sweetly, “I’m very generous and kindhearted, actually! It just so happens I have a girlfriend who is way too easy to tease and I can’t get enough of it. Seriously, I could torture you endlessly!” Anna growled at her and she snickered. “I said I could! Doesn’t mean I would.” She offered the piece to Anna again, poking her lips with it and prompting, “Open up.” 

Anna eyed it longingly but kept her mouth firmly closed, turning her head away. 

“Aw, come on, you big baby,” Elsa encouraged, following the direction her head turned and continuing her prodding. “I promise I won’t trick you this time.” 

“You better not,” Anna said, very cautiously parting her lips. As promised, Elsa didn’t withhold it from her this time and stuck it directly into her mouth. Instead of gobbling it down right away as expected, Anna simply bit down on it, holding it in place with her teeth, allowing a portion of the cone to remain hanging from between her lips. Hooking her arms back behind Elsa’s neck, she dragged the blonde’s head closer to her and nudged the protruding cone piece against Elsa’s lips. Her eyelashes fluttered as she gazed at Elsa invitingly, silently urging her to accept it.

Not needing to be told twice, Elsa closed the gap, taking the opposite end of the cone strip into her mouth and effectively joining their lips together. Her arms moved to encircle Anna’s torso as their mouths remained perfectly synced, tongues elegantly probing and exploring leisurely, swapping saliva and cone particles in a graceful, mutual dance.

As Anna thoroughly enjoyed the exquisite taste of her girlfriend--- Elsa was a delectable flavor she would never grow tired of--- she retracted her earlier thought process about the waffle cone being the best part of the ice cream. That current moment, the marvelous closeness she shared with Elsa right then, was hands down the best part of the dessert.

The cone, loosely held in Elsa’s hand at Anna’s back, was long forgotten and the girls tuned out everything around them, lost in each other‘s arms as they exchanged hot kisses that were growing exceedingly hotter as time passed. And then…

“QUACK!”

The invasive, peculiar sound startled the blushing lovers violently apart, both of them gasping loudly as they turned shocked expressions onto the source of the noise, which came from a white duck that had emerged from the lake and was now standing a few feet uncomfortably close behind Anna. It blinked at them with great interest and they blinked back at it confusedly.

“Um… hello?” Elsa awkwardly greeted the animal, unsure of what else to say or do.

The duck tilted its head to the side and tiptoed closer to them. 

Anna glued herself tightly to Elsa as the bird advanced, wary about the animal’s sudden appearance. “What is it doing? What does it want?” she asked suspiciously.

Before Elsa could speculate on the reason why the duck was creeping up on them, the fluffy bird flapped its wings animatedly and quacked again, simultaneously lunging forward and catching Elsa’s cone in its rounded, bright yellow beak and ripping it away from her aggressively. With the stolen cone in its possession, the duck made a mad dash for the lake, its back end shaking excessively as it waddled away from them as fast as its two webbed feet could carry it.

Realizing they had just been robbed, Anna shouted belatedly, “Hey!” She clumsily scrambled off of Elsa‘s lap and dove after the duck to stop it from escaping, but the slick thief skillfully avoided her hands and scurried safely into the water where it swam out to meet its friends, proudly waving its prize in the air like a victory flag. 

Climbing to her feet, a fuming Anna shook her fist and yelled a stream of curses and threats at the animal as she watched the apprehended cone get devoured by the sneaky duck and his slimy, duck friends. “I will catch you and have roasted duck for dinner, you filthy bird!” she hollered angrily. Kicking the ground, she searched for an object to throw and found a rock that was roughly the size of a bottle cap. It was too small for her liking but it was better than nothing, so she picked the rock up and wound her arm back, preparing to throw it.

“Whoa!” Elsa caught her arm before she could make the throw and tried her best to calm the unruly girl down. “Relax, feisty pants! Leave the poor ducks be! Don’t worry about the cone, okay? We can always get more!” 

“That’s not the point,” Anna grouched, lowering her arm but not letting go of the rock. Poor ducks? Ha! The duck was pure evil. What it did was inexcusable. The animal could have grabbed the easily accessible cone that she dropped on the ground and went on its merry little way without incident, but no. It specifically approached them and robbed them blind while they were blissfully occupied, and she was not going to stand there and let the feathered criminal get away with that! 

Deciding that it was probably a good idea to move on, Elsa put her socks and shoes back on and shook her jacket free of debris before shrugging back into it. She gathered Anna’s things together and tried giving them to Anna but the other girl wasn‘t paying any attention to her, muttering incoherently under her breath as she glared at the ducks, so Elsa stuffed the socks inside the shoes and tucked the shoes under her armpit and dealt with the rest of their things. 

While Elsa’s attention was diverted away from her, Anna rashly made her move and fired the rock in the general direction of the ducks, flinging it with all her strength. She wasn’t able to see the shadowy form of the rock as it careened through the air but she saw and heard it when it plummeted into the lake with a ploop, water shooting up from its crash landing. 

The shot went nowhere near the duck she was aiming for and missed all of the other ducks in the group altogether, though it did get dangerously close to a few fuzzy little ducklings innocently paddling along in the water. They chirped in surprise and splashed away from the commotion, quickly rushing to gather around an adult duck that was floating along with them. The older duck, presumably the mother, squawked in what Anna figured was an outraged cry. She didn’t speak duck so she couldn’t say for sure… 

The lake suddenly became abuzz with activity as several other ducks in the group chimed in with answering cries of their own and then all the adult birds shifted into high alert mode, their thin, lengthy necks standing erect as they aimed menacing stares straight towards Anna.

At that point, Anna concluded that the ducks were definitely furious at her and that knowing their language was not necessary for her to understand that. Taking a step back, she gulped frighteningly, her face turning pale and she whispered, “Oh, shit.” 

“What?” Elsa called distractedly, in the process of clearing up what little garbage they had with them, which mostly consisted of the wrappers from their ice cream. She gingerly picked up the ant infested cone and tried to shake the partying insects off of it. “Anna?” she said when she didn’t get a response from Anna in regards to her question, and she looked up just in time to see the lake literally explode as a swarm of angry ducks took flight, swooping up and then diving down in unison, honing in on their location. She dropped the cone instantly and straightened up. “Oh, wow...” she said in complete awe at the sight she was seeing.

“RUN!” Anna frantically screamed, snatching Elsa’s hand as she whipped past her, literally yanking her off her feet. 

Fleeing for her life from the flock of vicious ducks that were after her juicy blood, Anna screeched madly, providing her lungs with a healthy workout. Her feet pounded the ground as she bolted, cutting across the park, bouncing between and around trees in her path in hopes of throwing off her pursuers. Along the way her hand was jostled free from Elsa’s and she risked a glance back only to make sure the blonde was still close behind her. Other than that quick peek, she relied solely on her ears to determine whether the ducks were gaining on them.

The incessant quacking on their tail diminished soon enough, growing fainter and fainter the farther they ran, letting Anna know the ducks were giving up on the chase. Despite this information, Anna refused to slow down until she burst into a clearing and spotted a drinking fountain strategically stationed next to the paved pathway. Staggering over to it on rubbery, protesting legs, she collapsed gratefully against the bulky stone structure when she reached it, gasping like a chain smoker deprived of oxygen.

Holding her aching, burning sides, Anna wheezed, “We… we lost them.” She wiped her forehead and grimaced with disgust when her hand came away wet. The run had caused her to sweat badly and the shirt she wore was sticking unpleasantly to her skin. Fanning her overheated face and panting hard, she blindly felt around for the button built into the stone surface of the fountain and pushed it to get the water flowing, shoving her face into the arching stream that shot out, thirstily gulping down the liquid. Anna generally refrained from drinking out of public fountains because she thought they were unsanitary, not to mention the few times she did drink out of one her mouth was left with a nasty aftertaste. This one tasted surprisingly good, though, and the water was pleasantly cold, so she drank enough to hydrate herself.

She satisfied the inside of her parched mouth and then aimed the spray on the outside of her throat, moaning appreciatively as she spread the refreshing liquid around her sweaty neck, shoulders, and upper back to help herself cool down. By the time she was done her shirt was totally drenched. She squeezed as much of the excess water out as she could and then flapped the top of her shirt to get a nice artificial breeze going.

Exhausted, Anna gripped the sides of the fountain and tried to school her breathing back to appropriate, operational levels. During that process she noticed something was off. 

It was… quiet, and that was strange considering she was in the company of someone who was normally pretty vocal. For some reason Elsa hadn‘t made a single peep... 

Sweeping her eyes around, Anna discovered Elsa was actually missing. Shucking aside the wet bangs that clung to her forehead, she tentatively called, “Elsa?”

The disturbing and somewhat eerily silence remained, giving her no response and offering no clues as to where Elsa had vanished off to. 

“Elsa!” _Where did she go?_ Anna wondered, her nervousness growing as she twirled around and around, her eyes actively searching for any sign of the other girl. Her sudden, unexplainable absence was worrisome. She was pretty sure Elsa had been right on her heels the whole time they were running away because she remembered hearing echoing footsteps behind her! Unless her mind was playing tricks on her and the footsteps she thought were Elsa’s were actually her own… 

Cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice, Anna shouted worriedly, “Elsa!” 

_Oh, no…_ Anna thought with a sinking, chilling feeling. What if Elsa was seriously injured and lying on the ground, incapacitated by the ducks? “Elsa, where are you?” she cried louder, now panicking, her voice cracking as she imagined Elsa tripping and falling and getting smothered by a sea of plush, feathery bodies. Right at that very moment the ducks were likely mauling her to death, dismembering her poor body with their razor sharp---

“Quack!”

Anna’s heart dropped out of her chest and she screamed bloody murder, arms flailing as she spun around to confront her quacktacker. Her wild maneuvering caused her to lose her balance and she fell backwards, landing hard on her bottom. Cringing fearfully, arms crossed at the wrists and hands splayed wide and raised defensively to protect her face from an imminent attack, Anna peeked through an available opening, expecting to see an evil duck to match the convincing quack that had been uttered so close to her ear. 

But there was no duck in sight. Anna instead found her thought-to-be missing girlfriend bent over her knees and laughing up her lungs. “Elsa!” she shouted in surprised disbelief, her arms falling from their protective position and flopping onto her lap.

Her first assumption that Elsa had been behind her while they were escaping from the mob of ducks was correct. Elsa had kept up with Anna’s comically erratic, but surprisingly fast pace, lagging behind only because she chose to. She followed the struggling younger girl, laughing quietly to herself about how ridiculous the situation the redhead had gotten them into was. Somewhere along the way the brilliant idea to scare Anna even more implanted itself inside her brain, and no matter how hard she tried to ignore the temptation, she couldn’t shake it away. 

_How can I pass up on an easy opportunity to make Anna scream?_ Elsa had thought wickedly. Sure, there were other, much more preferable ways to get her screaming… but the path she chose to go down would be pretty damn funny. 

So while Anna’s eyes were closed and she was busy splashing herself with water, Elsa quietly crouched out of Anna’s line of sight and hid behind the stone fountain’s structure. She hunkered down, waiting for the right moment to pop out, trying hard not to erupt into laughter. Elsa listened and waited, and she almost abandoned the plan when she heard the desperation in Anna’s voice as she called out to her, but she stubbornly stuck with her plan because she knew the reaction she got out of Anna would make the whole thing totally worth it in the end.

And in her opinion, it most definitely was worth it.

“You bitch!” Still on the ground, Anna lashed out at Elsa with a naked foot, kicking the blonde squarely in the butt that was conveniently turned her way. The kick only served to crack Elsa up more and she collapsed face first on the ground, unable to support herself in an upright position. 

Unamused by the prank, Anna snapped furiously, “You scared the shit out of me, you asshole!”

Pushing herself up and hurling her body at Anna, Elsa grappled her lovingly and cheered, “But I’m your asshole!” She puckered her lips and delivered a sloppy, wet smooch to one of Anna’s cheeks.

Shouldering her away and wiping the slobber left on her face, Anna muttered, “I already have one of those, thanks. I don’t need another.”

Elsa giggled crazily, but she sobered up quickly when she realized Anna wasn’t laughing along with her. The girl was plainly upset by the scare. Taking Anna’s hand and brushing her thumb along the unique lines imprinted on her palm, she said guiltily, “I’m sorry for scaring you, princess. Forgive me, please?” She jutted her trembling lower lip out to increase the chance of Anna accepting her meaningful apology. “Pretty please? You can kick my butt some more if it’ll make you feel better.” She flipped around and presented a perfect view of her jean clad bum to the redhead, wiggling it at her encouragingly.

Anna tried to resist, she really did. She wasn’t quite ready to accept Elsa’s apology after that cruel, heart stuttering trick she played on her… but it was impossible to stay mad at that damn face and that playfully shaking tush that deserved to be slapped around. This woman made her pathetically weak, which was probably a bad thing, but she decided she didn‘t care. “I swear, you will be the death of me,” she said peevishly, and because Elsa gave her permission, she administered a swift, stinging slap to Elsa‘s hind cheeks. “I’m going to suffer from traumatizing nightmares because of this, you know!”

Massaging her rump, Elsa joked, “My butt’s not that bad…” She got up and dusted the small grains of dirt that stuck to the front of her clothes off. “Anyway, serves you right for bothering those poor, defenseless ducks.” She circled around to her hiding spot and collected the trash and Anna’s shoes she left on the ground. “You shouldn’t have provoked them, Anna,” she reproved mildly, depositing the garbage into the trash receptacle next to the fountain. She started to pass the shoes to Anna but halted, aiming a frown down at her. “You’re filthy.”

“Wha… Excuse me? I’m filthy because I provoked some stupid ducks?” Anna said, baffled and more than a little peeved by Elsa’s seemingly insulting words.

“No! I was talking about your feet! They are dirty,” Elsa elaborated, poking her own shoe encased foot at one of Anna‘s bare ones.

“Oh…” Truthfully, Anna forgot she was barefoot. It completely slipped her mind, for obvious reasons… Elsa was right though. Her feet were heavily stained with mud and bits of grass and who knew what else. Apparently she had trampled through every available dirt patch in the park with her wet feet. “Great…” she said disgustedly. How was she going to rinse herself off? The lake would have been the perfect and most obvious choice, except there was no way she was going anywhere near that place ever again! Not after that hair-raising experience! Her next best option would have been the bathrooms that were available in the park, but those were locked after dark as a precaution to prevent vandalism from people who had nothing better to do with their lives, so that was also out. 

It looked like she was going to be forced to wear the dirt until she got home… 

Grabbing fistfuls of grass, Anna used the green stuff to scrape some of the mud off the bottom of her foot and said, “First of all, let me remind you that those so called poor, defenseless ducks totally started it! Second, the rock I threw was practically a pebble AND I didn’t even graze any of them with it! Third, and most importantly, whose side are you on? You saw how they charged after me all mouth frothing crazy! They would have chewed me apart if they caught up to me, I‘m sure!”

“Note to self, never take Anna on a wild safari,” Elsa said under her breath. If Anna was capable of riling up normally docile animals with ease, she didn’t want to know what she could do around larger, meaner animals that possessed actual sharp, pointy teeth. “They’re ducks, Anna, not lions. I’m pretty sure the possibility of them chewing you apart is impossible.”

“Anything is possible!”

“In ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog‘, maybe.” Clucking her tongue, Elsa snapped her fingers and motioned for Anna to get up. “Alright, you. Enough with the ducks. Let’s clean your stinky feet.”

“My feet are not stinky!” Anna objected. She tentatively sniffed her foot to prove it. The odor she inhaled consisted mostly of wet dirt and grass, and while it wasn‘t particularly an off-putting smell, she made a funny face anyway. Groaning, she rose to her feet and asked, “How exactly do you expect me to get clean?” 

“I’m going to lick all the mud off, of course,” Elsa advised evenly.

“Ew. That’s gross, and I swear if you do that I will break up with you,” Anna threatened. A blatant lie. “Or at least I’ll never kiss you again. Yuck…” Also a lie. Still, the thought of dirty feet being licked was revolting to her. The fact that it could possibly be her own dirty feet receiving that special treatment didn’t make it any better.

“Shut up and bring your feet up here so I can pamper my pretty little princess,” Elsa said impatiently, patting the water fountain and lifting her own leg to indicate what she wanted Anna to do.

Somewhat skeptical, Anna wobbled unsteadily as she strained to swing a foot up, wincing at the uncomfortable position her limbs were forced into. “Ow. Okay, this is… a little awkward to be considered pampering,” she said, trying to balance on the foot she had planted on the ground while keeping her raised one perched on top of the fountain. “I’m pretty sure a pampering is more comfortable and luxurious than this.”

“I don‘t doubt that,” Elsa agreed, hooking her arm under and around Anna‘s calf to keep her from falling over and firmly grasping her ankle. “But we make do with what we have available, and unfortunately this is it. Or… if you prefer, we could go ba---”

“No!” Anna interrupted quickly. “Don’t even say it. I’m not going back to THAT place. This… is fine, I guess. But Elsa, please hurry. Standing at this angle really hurts and my legs are tired as it is. I‘m not sure how much longer I can stay in this position.”

Propping her hip on the button to keep the fountain water on a constant flow, Elsa dotingly cleansed Anna’s foot, whistling while she worked.

Anna took that time to scrutinize her without the distraction of those blue eyes aimed her way. Compared to her disheveled, sweaty self, the blonde looked… so aggravatingly, mind-blowingly, unbelievably perfect. Her appearance certainly did not portray that of a woman who had just been on a recent run. Her breathing was ordinary, and not one strand of hair that made up her thick, single braid was out of place. It was almost as if she had glided the whole way… 

“How do you do it?” Anna blurted enviously. Elsa gave her a questioning look. “I feel like I’ve just run a marathon and you look as if you’ve been on a casual stroll.”

Lathering the base of Anna’s foot with water to wash off the dirt and miscellaneous gunk caked over it, Elsa grinned and said, “Well, screaming like a banshee would naturally take a lot out of you, especially when you combine that with running like a chicken with its head cut off.” She threaded her fingers between the cracks of Anna’s toes to remove the surprising amount of muck holed up there. As she worked, her fingers brushed against sensitive points, causing the younger girl to violently twitch. Elsa was forced to tighten her grip when the action almost knocked Anna’s foot free from her hold and she shot her a short, warning glance. “Stop squirming.”

“Sorry,” Anna mumbled. She clenched her teeth and swallowed back a hiss as Elsa stroked the palm of her foot, her toes flexing and curling at the touch.

Apart from a quick flick of her eyes to the area in question, Elsa pretended she didn’t notice and continued with her task. “Anyway, to answer your question, I get lots of exercise when I take Sven for his daily morning walks. My furry buddy has a ridiculous amount of energy for a dog his age so those walks inevitably end up with me in hot pursuit of him. I swear he‘s like a playful little puppy,” she said fondly, chuckling.

Anna loved when Elsa talked about her dog because it always brought a huge smile to her face and she spoke about him so lovingly. “He sounds adorable. I can‘t wait to meet him! Do you think you can take me to see him next time?” she pressed hopefully. “On top of meeting your dog, I’m very interested in seeing my wild lesbian in her natural habitat, too,” she jested. 

It suddenly occurred to Anna that Elsa never once offered to invite her to her apartment. _Why haven’t we discussed this before?_ Anna wondered. To be honest, she never really thought about it all that much because she was just happy being in Elsa’s presence, but now that it was there in her head, she realized that Elsa’s apartment would be a safe haven for them to make-out and cuddle in privacy. They wouldn’t have to worry about getting interrupted by hostile, cone-stealing beasts or nosy people. “Unless… you don’t want me to?” she said hesitantly.

“No, no! Don’t be silly! I would love for you to come to my apartment,” Elsa ensured, closely examining the foot she was cleansing, using the available light given off by a nearby lamp post to check her progress. She nodded satisfactorily and rubbed the sleeve of her jacket over the underside of Anna‘s foot to polish it dry, and she did it with such care that a brand new car would have been jealous from the attention. Elsa took her eyes away from what she was doing long enough to smile apologetically at Anna, looking sheepish. “My apartment is a bit of a disaster, at the moment.… Certainly not an environment suitable for a princess such as yourself. It’s completely my fault since I‘ve been shirking heavily on cleaning. I‘ll get to work on making it presentable as soon as possible,” she promised.

“Maybe you should invest in a maid,” Anna quipped. “Or teach Sven how to clean since he’s home all day.”

“That wouldn‘t be a bad idea, actually.” Elsa blew lightly against Anna‘s heel, and the tiny whoosh of air produced from her mouth skimmed daintily upon Anna’s skin, triggering another sharp foot spasm from the girl. This time Elsa was ready for it and she held her steady, chiding, “You’re still doing it, Anna.”

“I know! I’m sorry. I can’t help it, okay?” Anna said, sounding more than a little frustrated.

“You can’t help it, huh?” Elsa processed this information carefully and a smile tugged the corners of her lips upwards. “Is someone ticklish on her feetsie?”

_Uh, oh,_ Anna thought with a gulp. Elsa was giving her a dangerous look that signaled she was seconds away from getting ruthlessly tickled to death, and her situation was made exceptionally worse when she factored in the compromising position she was stuck in. With her leg trapped and held hostage by Elsa, she had no chance of escaping.

She was doomed. 

“N-no!” Anna lied, swinging her head from side to side. “I’m not ticklish at all! Not one bit! Nope. So… so don‘t waste your time trying to tickle me because it won‘t work! You‘ll be extremely disappointed.” 

“Really? Is that so?” Elsa experimentally dragged a finger slowly down the length of Anna’s foot and the resulting tremors from the pass was incentive enough for her to go on. She tweaked Anna’s biggest toe and started to sing, “This little piggy went to market.”

“Nugh,” Anna grunted, trying to shake her leg free.

“This little piggy stayed home,” Elsa sang cheerily, wiggling her fingers against the next stubby toe in line.

“Stooooop!” Anna said pleadingly.

Elsa straight up ignored her and went right on doing what she was doing. “This little piggy had roast beef.”

“El--- he he he---sa!”

“And this poor little piggy had none…” Elsa put a very sad face on for the pig that was denied roast beef, but she didn’t leave out Anna’s second to last toe, giving the digit an equal amount of attention that she gave the others. Without missing a beat she turned to the last toe and said, tugging on the pinky, “This little piggy went wee wee wee!” Following the last wee, her fingers went into a frenzy, dancing upon every inch of space on Anna’s foot. But they didn’t stop there, proceeding further up Anna’s leg until they were burrowed deep in the soft flesh of Anna’s stomach, busily attacking the sensitive location. Her other hand joined in on the fun not too long after.

Anna didn‘t stand a chance against such an assault. “Noooo hooo ho!” Still precariously balanced on one leg, she leaned back to evade Elsa’s torturous touch, and when that didn‘t give her a reprieve she wrenched herself away. With Elsa’s hands no longer holding her down she was left rocking on the heel of her one foot, seconds away from spilling backwards. Eyes closed, she braced herself for impact and the resulting pain that would surely follow from the fall…

It never came.

The hands that were mercilessly tickling Anna stopped fooling around in time to latch onto her hips, firmly anchoring her in place. Elsa then helped her return the leg resting high on the fountain’s edge back to the sturdy ground and slid her arms around Anna, combining their lips swiftly in a chaste kiss.

Feeling the victorious smirk Elsa pressed against her own mouth, Anna groused, “I seriously hate you sometimes.”

“Gasp! You wound me with your thorn-laced words,” Elsa fake sobbed, tipping her head back and throwing the back of her hand over her forehead theatrically.

“Oh, please!” Anna laughed heartily and shook her head. The movement caused the ties assigned to bind both of her messy braids in place to loosen considerably, and since they were no longer doing their job properly she removed them and stuffed them in her pockets.

Elsa made a cute little happy noise when Anna fanned her hair out and she reached forward and combed her fingers through the unkempt coppery strands. “You know, you look beautiful all breathless and mussed up,” she complimented.

“You’re just saying that to get into my pants,” Anna accused her.

“I believe I don’t need an excuse for that, if your earlier admission had any merit,” Elsa bragged smugly.

Embarrassment from being reminded of her earlier blathering made quick work of brightening Anna’s cheeks and she rumbled out hoarsely, “That‘s not fair. You can‘t use that against me so soon…” 

“Hey.” Elsa grazed her lips with Anna’s again, applying an insistent but gentle kiss. “I mean it… About the beautiful thing, that is. You’ll always look beautiful to me,” she said sincerely.

The color on Anna’s cheeks darkened for a different reason this time and a great warmth encompassed her entire body at the sweet-spoken words. On top of her constant teasing, Elsa never failed to shower her with compliments when she got the chance. Anna naturally reveled in hearing them because they always made her feel amazing, like she was actually worth something. But what made them even more special was that she knew they weren’t empty words Elsa was saying in an effort to make her happy. When Elsa gave her compliments, she spoke them truthfully, directly from her heart.

Taking her into a hug, Anna rested her chin in the crook of her girlfriend’s neck and said humbly, “Thank you.”

Elsa returned the hug fervently, giving her a solid squeeze. “You are very welcome.”

They rocked pleasantly together, soaking in the warmth of each other’s arms, and if it were possible they would have been happy staying like that forever. It was too bad that life couldn’t be lived through warm hugs alone. They reluctantly pulled apart, both groaning at the slight separation, though the distance was just enough so that they could see each other’s face. 

No verbal words needed to be exchanged as they communicated solely with their soft smiles and admiring eyes, the unbreakable contact speaking volumes even with their silence.

The silence stretched for an indecipherable amount of time and within that time frame Elsa started getting antsy, bouncing from one foot to the other as if she were subtly dancing or trying to hold the contents of her bladder in. Her lips trembled as if words were fighting to burst out, and eventually they separated and her voice whistled through the space they created. “Anna, I---” Her forehead crinkled and she stopped abruptly and held her breath to keep from saying anything else, her teeth worrying her bottom lip as her eyes shifted downward.

“Elsa?” Anna could tell Elsa wanted to say something, and judging by how nervous she had grown, she guessed it was something really important. “What is it?”

“I… uh…” Elsa’s gaze remained fixed towards the ground and she cleared her throat and nodded at Anna’s feet. “I still have that other foot to deal with,” she answered, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Oh… I guess that‘s probably a good idea.” Anna frowned deeply. She was almost certain that whatever Elsa was going to say had nothing at all to do with her feet. A tiny spark of hope made her heart flutter when she allowed herself to dwell too long on a few possibilities… She didn’t pester Elsa about it despite wanting to do so very badly. Tucking the thought safely aside for later contemplation, she shuffled closer to the fountain. “Just so you know,” she said, changing the subject as she foolishly placed herself in a vulnerable position once more, willingly surrendering herself to the devious blonde, “I am capable of bathing myself…”

“I’m sure you can.” Reclaiming her cleaning post and being extra careful not to tickle Anna as her soft hands diligently scrubbed the remaining soiled foot, Elsa continued smartly, “But why would you want to when you have an ‘insanely gorgeous’ girlfriend to do it for you?”

Anna just laughed boisterously, knowing she couldn‘t possibly refute that.


End file.
